CEO Monthly August 2017

ce

Leading the Way - Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company

monthly

Also in this issue:

CI RC UI T S

A Leader in the Electronics Industry We interviewed the company’s Ken Bahl to learn more about them, their R&D projects plus his own career.

Driving Your Business to Excellence We spoke to Founder & CEO of Consensus, Julian Day to find out more about his company and his 2017 Global CEO Top 100 Award.

Flying High We interviewed the Chief Executive Officer of Quantum 9, Michael Mayes, to learn more about the wider cannabis industry today, as well as their work and their growing number of expert consultants.

August 2017

, Welcome to the August issue of CEO Monthly Magazine, packed out with the latest news and updates from across the globe, spanning every major industry and sector.

With a vision to become the world leader in the development and commercialisation of high efficiency turbo-machinery, Omar Hammoud, founder of APGNeuros is blowing away the competition having recently been awarded the title Best Turbo Blower Manufacturer CEO – North America. We sat down with Omar Hammoud to discuss APG-Neuros in more detail.

Established in 1954, Maroba is an old maternity cottage situated in the heart of Mayfield, offering 10 rooms for elderly widows. Selected in the 2017 Global CEO Top 100 Award, Viv Allanson discusses with us the facility and also her recent success.

Continuing the theme of success, on the 14th August, Crown Bioscience announced its results for the second quarter ending June 30, 2017. The results showed a strong revenue and profit growth for the development services company.

I truly hope you enjoy reading this thrilling edition.

Jessie Daykin - Editor

Contents 3. Driving Your Business to Excellence 4. deVere to ‘Extensively Develop’ in Europe 6. Leading the Way 8. A Story of Continuing Success 9. Your Healthcare Home in Sydney, Byron Bay and Brisbane 12. A Positive and Dynamic Learning Community 14. A Leader in the Electronics Industry 16. A CEO in the Global Semiconductor Industry 18. Achieving Sustainability through Science and Technology 24. From a to B at a Price You Can Afford 26. Financial Planning Is for YOU. It Is about You...

Now and in the Future 28. Blowing the Competition Away 30. For the Love of Trading 32. A Continuing Success Story 34. Sustainable Living Spaces in the UAE

2 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

,

1708CE02

Driving Your Business to Excellence Consensus was started in 1999, with the express mandate and passion to create a unique platform for identifying the most innovation technology designed and developed in Australia.

We spoke to Founder & CEO of Consensus, Julian Day to find out more about his company and his 2017 Global CEO Top 100 Award.

Julian Day studied Business Management at Plymouth Polytechnic and entered the computer industry in 1978. In the UK, he worked in a whole variety of sales and technical roles, which included Computer Manager for Oxford University Press in Corby. Julian tells us about his move to Australia, and how he can lean on his past experience to further his knowledge as CEO. “In 1986, I emigrated to Australia and joined a start-up company as Sales & Marketing Director which we grew to a multi-$Million company in three years. I then worked as a Project Manager on many IT projects in Banking & Finance, leading large teams to achieve goals with full accountability for budget, compliance and reporting to key stakeholders. I recognised a gap in the market to create an Awards-based company specifically in the technology area and incorporated Consensus in July 1999. My years of technical knowledge, project management, significant network and position in industry gave me the ability to build Consensus through rewarding those that share my passion for excellence.”

Consensus work extensively with startups and serial innovators to

honour them with a prestigious Consensus Award. Julian details how the company has grown since its inception and the company’s results speak for themselves.

“The company is always growing.

We extended the Awards to New Zealand in 2006 and are currently setting up in Europe and Asia. Within Consensus Group we have the Consensus Awards, a consulting company and a professional association, Australian Consensus Technology Association (which has over 1,000 members).

“Currently, we have eight awards programs and have conducted well over 1,000 evaluations through our 160+ judges. Our passion for excellence has been rewarded over the last 18 years with a success rate of 9 out of 10 of the Winners going on to become world successes, all with 12x returns. Three ‘Unicorns’ judged when they were going to market; Atlassian, WiseTech Global and the BANCS technology are all multi-$Billion concerns.”

Part of the company’s success comes from the firm’s approach when undertaking a new client.

First impressions are always important and a lot of business can spread through word of mouth. Julian discusses how he ensures that the company

can meet the needs of everyone involved.

“Ensuring the best outcome for us and our clients, we spend a huge amount of time observing industry trends, where innovation is emerging, and keep a finger on the pulse across the startup community. We encourage participation in the Awards, however perform a significant amount of filtering on all entries to ensure they meet both our and the judges’ high level of quality before accepting an entry. The Judges may confer as many Awards as they wish based upon the three criteria; innovation, potential and performance.”

Regarding his leadership style, Julian remarks on the fact that all his colleagues share the same vision. The company boasts a wealth of experience and knowledge within the industry, therefore there is not too much work to ensure that all staff are working towards the same vision.

“My colleagues all share the same vision. We are focused to help and assist new innovations get the recognition they deserve.

Our large number of judges (our brains trust) have over 4,000 years of experience and industry knowledge which is core to our mandate of peer assessment and consensus of opinion of a large number of people.”

Most CEO’s would expect many challenges but also opportunities within their company, so we gave Julian the chance to tell us what problems he has had to overcome with his organisation.

“Ulitmately, we had a drought of entries when the GFC hit the world economy. Most businesses just wanted to survive and didn’t have either the time or money to get involved in entering an awards program. However, the market bounced back and we have a very healthy pipeline each year. Innovation is alive and kicking.”

Contact: Julian Day Contact Email: julian.day@consensus.com.au Address: Consensus PTY Ltd, PO Box 223, Drummoyne, NSW 2047, Australia Phone: +61 413 309 056 Website: www.consensus.com.au

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 3

,

1703CV19

Flying High Our special 2017 Cannabis CEO of the Year award went to the Chief Executive Officer of Quantum 9, Michael Mayes. The firm is an international hemp and cannabis consulting company, based in Chicago, IL. We interviewed the man at the helm to learn more about the wider cannabis industry today, as well as the work of Quantum 9 and their growing number of expert consultants.

The primary objective of Quantum 9 is to help connect patients with the necessary resources - while aiding investors, entrepreneurs, employees and potential patients into the cannabis industry.

The firm’s specialist areas include employee training, staff augmentation and permit acquisition.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer for Quantum 9, Michael Mayes begins by giving an insight into the US cannabis industry today, and how many states are using it legally and the number who are using it for recreational purposes. He also tells us who in the cannabis industry today he admires.

“There are currently 29 states that have medical marijuana programmes. There are currently eight states and Washington DC that have recreational or adult use programmes. As a firm, Quantum 9 are expecting a few more over the coming months.

“In terms of who I admire in the cannabis industry, I would say hands down Ed Rosenthal. He is a long-time friend of mine and is one of the main reasons why we have medical cannabis in the first place here in the USA. For me, he has been an amazing mentor and has helped Quantum 9 as a firm, since it began here in Chicago, IL over four and a half years ago.”

Staying on the subject of Quantum 9, Ed then reveals the next steps for Quantum 9 and how their clients perceive the firm’s work.

required to build a team, design the facilities and answer the state or federal questions in a way that puts the client in the perfect position to win.

“I think we will continue to do cannabis license acquisition work, but we aim to focus more on building the Greenwave brand. Greenwave is a dispensary that was founded in Michigan and now in Maryland.

“I would also like to say that as a firm, we are always seeking to hire good people to come and work for us. Our cannabis consultants usually go through a very in-depth interview process.

Our cultivation marijuana consultants are asked three levels of questions, that increase in difficulty for each level. Their score, along with a writing sample and references, are reviewed by Quantum 9 subject matter experts. We have 45 cannabis consultants that work for us now at the firm, so they are certainly growing in number.”

“On how our clients rate our work, I would like to say that most of Quantum 9’s leads can be attributed to our SEO expert, Kevin Mahoney. As Quantum 9’s director of operations, Kevin has worked diligently to get the firm to the number two spot for many of our key search terms. In some cases, I am proud to say that he’s got us to the number one spot.”

In closing, Ed is keen to tell us what it takes to win a cannabis license and how Quantum 9 explains their high success rate. He also reveals if the firm is currently hiring and reveals what it takes to be a Quantum 9 cannabis consultant.

“We usually only take on clients that have a good chance of winning. Our projects typically take between six and ten months.

When people call us super later in the submission window, we simply turn them down. It is very difficult to win these types of licenses, because of the time

4 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

g Flying High

Company: Quantum 9 Name: Michael Mayes Chief Executive Officer Email: michael@quantum9.net Web Address: www.quantum9.net Address: Quantum 9 Headquarters 744 N. Clark St., Suite 804, Chicago, IL 60654 USA Telephone: +1 888 716 0404

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 5

,

GCE17041

Leading the Way Bangkok Mass Transit System Pcl. (part of the BTS Group), is Thailand’s leading mass transit rail service provider and developer of Bangkok’s first elevated Skytrain system. CEO Surapong Laoha-Unya shares his insights on the development of transport infrastructure in the country.

Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company Limited. (BTSC) was established in 1992, having won a 30-year concession from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to build, operate and transfer an elevated mass transit railway system, consisting of two routes serving Central Bangkok. BTSC’s primary objective was to construct and operate a financially sustainable urban mass transit railway system, to ease the increasingly severe city traffic problems.

The Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS Skytrain), was opened for passenger service on the 5th December 1999 and operates on two lines. Initially running a distance of 23.5 km, the system was subsequently expanded to 36.25 km, with the addition of line extensions which now serve a total of 34 stations, located in Bangkok’s most important business and tourist districts, interchanging with the underground metro, as well as the Airport Rail Link connecting to Suwannabhumi International Airport.

When the BTS Skytrain first entered passenger service, the fleet consisted of 35 trains in a 3-car configuration, totaling 105 railcars. Following system expansion, the company currently operates a total of 52 trains in a 4-car configuration, making a total fleet size of 208 railcars. Since commencing service, daily ridership has risen to 900,000 passenger trips.

Today the company is recognised as Thailand’s leading mass transit railway operator with over 2000 employees, providing safe, convenient and fast transportation transport services.

With a background in transportation planning and Civil Engineering, CEO Surapong Laoha-Unya has been with the company since the very beginning. Initially joining the company as Traffic and Team Leader, he was soon appointed as Vice President in charge of planning and coordination, then rising to the post of Chief Operating Officer. Now as CEO he also sits on the board of directors.

‘I’m justifiably proud of our company’s achievements, despite the considerable economic and political turbulence over the past 25 years or so, both at home and abroad. We have weathered the financial storms to become one of Thailand’s top 50 companies listed on the Stock Exchange, as well as leaders in the rail mass transport sector. Indeed we are further distinguished by being the only totally privately funded Mass Transit System in the world to achieve profitability, while providing highly reliable safe and clean services to recognized international standards. Much to the admiration of many of my friends visiting from other countries, compared to other metros in other major cities around the world, our trains are very clean and well maintained.’

6 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

‘Receiving this prestigious award is indeed an honour and shows that our hard work and determination is recognised internationally. This undoubtedly strengthens our position when bidding for major overseas contracts. Personally, I take great satisfaction in knowing that our company continues to achieve the highest industry standards and is poised to expand operations to other countries in the near future.’

‘To ensure the success of projects undertaken, we must look carefully at sustainability and ROI before making any commitments. While we essentially provide public transport services, we need to maintain profitability and provide acceptable returns to shareholders. When considering large infrastructure projects, we look to predict all types of risks and formulate plans to mitigate them. Essentially, we are looking at a ‘win-win’ for all stakeholders, such that nobody is seen to lose out. As with most large-scale projects, the key to success is good planning and mutual understanding from the outset.

My vision for the company aligns with that of our Chairman, in that we see our company becoming one of Thailand’s ‘leading Blue Chip’ companies, through expansion of our core business of transport development and operation, both locally and internationally.

Thailand currently stands at the threshold of massive

infrastructural development, including major investment in rail projects. Through participation with the government in PPP (Public Private Partnership) arrangements, our company is poised to expand at a faster rate than ever before. This presents its own challenges, particularly in terms of human resource development, hence as CEO I must focus on ways to ensure that our company can attract suitably qualified staff as well as keep those already in our employ. Indeed with such massive construction projects in progress simultaneously, the stresses on manpower availability is becoming of critical importance to all industries in this expanding economy.

With over 2000 members of staff, as CEO I have an ‘open door’ policy, in that I place importance on feedback and comment from all levels of our organization. I believe that I am approachable, with a straight forward and downto-earth manner. But above all, I keep my word in dealing with all matters and my determination to succeed is unwavering. I never give up until I have received satisfactory results. Born from Thai culture and upbringing, I believe I demonstrate a high degree of personal integrity in all matters under my influence and control. This could be said to be one of my main distinguishing traits.

The Royal Thai Government’s current rail infrastructure plans cover not only urban mass transit, but also development of the national rail network, with

g Leading the Way

expansion from single to dual tracks, as well as high speed train capabilities on certain routes. This presents a golden opportunity for our company to participate in this period of accelerated infrastructure and economic development.

‘In order to be effective and ensure that major projects are successfully implemented, I have to steer the company through political and economic uncertainties, while at the same time balancing stakeholders’ expectations. Ultimately the traveling public are our customers, so we are continually driven by the need to provide

high levels of satisfaction in the services we provide.’

‘Our company is committed to service excellence, whilst delivering returns to shareholders which regularly exceed those of other companies in the same sector. As transport operation and development is our core business, the sustainability of our operations relies on careful assessment of environmental as well as social impacts. I believe we demonstrate strong social responsibility in the way we give back to the communities which we serve.’

‘As CEO, I strive to provide equal treatment of employees without

discrimination and to recognise outstanding performance. As with most major companies, we need to continually identify opportunities for staff career advancement in order to build for the future. This is particularly important given the increasing regional and international demand for experienced transport professionals.’

‘At BTS, we believe that the participation of our employees is an important factor in creating ongoing commitment and stability in our organization, therefore they are given the opportunity to share opinions and submit positive suggestions for improvement. We survey

employer satisfaction on an annual basis, covering issues such as work environment, quality of life, opportunities for advancement etc. Given the good levels of response, in general we have a high level of employee satisfaction’.

Contact Email: PatchaneeyaP@bts.co.th Company: Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Company Limited, BTS Building, 1000 Phahonyothin Rd, Chomphon, Chatuchak Bangkok, 10900 Thailand Telephone: 0066 2617 7300 Web Address: www.bts.co.th

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 7

,

1708CE01

A Story of Continuing Success Maroba was established in 1954 in an old maternity cottage in Mayfield offering 10 rooms for elderly widows and spinsters. We spoke to Viv Allanson to discuss the facility and also talk to her about winning the 2017 Global CEO Top 100 Award.

In 1960, a parcel of land was granted in Waratah, to Maroba.

The venue has grown from its initial 10 beds to 155 aged care beds and 23 retirement Villas, all of which provide accommodation and care for seniors from all walks of life. Maroba continues to be operated by the Islington Baptist Church, proudly maintaining its independence as a truly local service and local employer.

Viv discusses her previous experience and explains how she came to the position of CEO at Maroba.

“In 2000, I was promoted from the Executive Director of Nursing position to the position of CEO of Maroba. Whilst beginning a successful career in the Public Health sector in 1975, I have not looked back since making the move to Aged Care in 1992.

“Bringing my nursing experience to the role has enabled me to maintain my focus on the clinical and care issues, whilst progressing Maroba’s business performance. The focus now is to diversify the range of accommodation and services provided by Maroba to ensure it continues to be a relevant and dynamic organisation.

I was elected to the Aged and Community Services Association of NSW & ACT board of directors in 2007 and have served as President since 2012. I am also engaged in international Aged Care initiatives and have served on the Global Ageing

Network Board since 2013. 45 years of Health and Aged Care experience informs my everyday decision making no matter how insignificant or how grand those decisions may be.”

Discussing her leadership style, Viv talks to us about how she ensures everyone in the organization understands her vision and together they work to achieve the same goals.

“Connectedness is a driver for me as I see the world as one big connected family with each person playing a part in the success and life outcomes of others. My personal approach is to always work as a team so that we all look good at whatever it is we do. I lend myself to individuals, organizations and to causes as I cannot ignore the call of humanity and am fully persuaded that I can make a difference one person at a time and one day at a time.

“Courage in the face of opposition and emergency situations has served me well and ignited the strength of the people around me who may otherwise, be paralyzed with fear or lack of self confidence in those challenging situations.”

Viv discusses being open with everyone she meets, being passionate and how the success of the team is vital to her.

“Fundamentally, I wear my heart on my sleeve so no one has to second guess me. My team have come to rely on that transparency and honesty, speaking the truth in love does win others over.

8 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

“Having the attitude and demeanor of a servant leader has led to continuous success and I do not just mean personal or organizational success. It is the success of our team and those in our care that shines through.

Leading by example, Viv believes that if she leads then people will follow and this is the most effective way to teach staff the values and processes.

“Walking the walk and telling stories has been a positive and strategic way to share the vision and embed the values and culture within Maroba. No one has ever asked to sign up to the strategic plan or business plan, however almost everyone I engage with at Maroba want to sign up to the Dream.”

Regarding the future, Viv discusses her own career aspirations, noting how she is still enjoying working at Maroba. She wants to pass down her wisdom and knowledge and encourage the staff into leadership themselves, something which she will consider a success.

“Ulitmately, I am often asked by my peers what my future plans are and what will be the next part of my journey. Suffice to say I am still having fun within the context of Maroba, and the external organizations where I hold Director roles, yet I am acutely aware that my contribution to my current organization does have a use by date and with that in mind, after 23yrs I have allowed myself to dream of that moment when I

do grow up and it is time to move on.

“At 59, I still have an overflow that is impossible to switch off and I still have a passion for people, especially those desiring the honor of a leadership role. I take great joy in building leaders and releasing them. Therefore, I plan one day to make that a primary focus along with sharing the wisdom I have gathered over my lifetime in relation to Health and Aged Care, the built environment, sustainability and issues that affect the organization as a whole.”

Company: Maroba Contact: Viv Allanson Contact Email: Viv@maroba.com.au Address: 58 Edith Street, Waratah NSW 2298, Australia Phone: 61 2 4935 0300 Website: www.maroba.com.au

,

GCE17039

Your Healthcare Home in Sydney, Byron Bay and Brisbane Rainleigh (trading as Holdsworth House Medical) is a privately-owned group of multidisciplinary medical practices which has been running for over 25 years. The company was originally started by a trio of GPs in Sydney, mainly focusing on providing quality primary care for patients in the local area. We spoke to Sarah Holland to discuss the company and talk about her winning Medical CEO of the Year 2017 – Australia.

Sarah Holland possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience in the medical industry and has worked her way up to the position of CEO. She talks to us about her previous job roles and whether she leans on these experiences when needing to make decisions in her role now as CEO. “Following completion of my BSc I gained a place on the Graduate Management scheme with the NHS in the UK. This provided me with a very thorough grounding in the field of leadership and management as well as allowing me time to complete my MSc in Healthcare, Leadership and Management. Whilst in the UK I worked in the secondary and tertiary healthcare fields managing specialist divisions in large teaching hospitals. During this time, I also took on an additional role working directly for the Department of Health to develop a national eligibility policy and subsequently rolling this out. This required a strong focus on consulting, contract

negotiation and liaising across a wider variety of stakeholders, conscious of the political and financial environment.

“Each of my past positions has necessitated excellent communication, consulting and relationship management skills. Whilst in the UK I also completed a three-year coaching qualification which has further enhanced my ability to manage and motivate staff, both those who work autonomously and large teams. I feel my strengths lie in strategic review and development; organisational restructure; efficiency targets; change management; and achieving demanding goals.”

We asked Sarah how it feels to win this award and what she attributes to this success. Sarah also discusses what difference winning the award might make in terms of future business.

“Non-clinical management within the healthcare industry is often overlooked or unnoticed and yet is one of the most crucial aspects of ensuring sustainability, growth,

efficiencies, and quality care for patients. I feel very honored to have been considered for this award and I hope that it allows others in both the healthcare and the wider business sectors to gain an awareness of the need for senior leaders within the healthcare field, those who have a wealth of experience in management and leadership who can work with Clinicians to deliver proactive and targeted services.”

Discussing the company further, Sarah outlines the work it does and what types of clients and patients the establishment usually deals with. Since starting in her role, the company has opened a third practice in Fortitude Valley as well as relocating its Sydney practice.

Sarah is quick to praise her staff, whilst also noting the uniqueness of each practice, ensuring patients feel comfortable when visiting healthcare professionals.

“Over the preceding quarter century, the company has vastly expanded, now offering a multitude of Specialist services

including one of the largest private Research departments in the country, onsite pathology and nursing services, and a medical education department which runs an annual international sexual health conference.

Since I started in the role we have opened a third practice in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane; relocated our Sydney practice to College Street in a state of the art facility complemented by showcasing the private art collections of our Directors; and grown our research department considerably.

“In 2013, I began with the firm, initially on a six-month contract to undertake a strategic review of the company and develop a twoyear growth plan. Once this was created the Directors offered me the permanent role with a view to rolling this plan out. Over my four years with the company we have undertaken some huge changes and grown the turnover by close to 50%. I have a very strong group of operational managers beneath me heading up each of the three practices which has

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 9

are always new challenges to overcome and Sarah believes that more collaboration is needed in certain aspects of the industry, particularly regarding technology and new systems which could benefit many other institutions across the globe.

allowed me to work at a more strategic level for the most part.

The business itself aims to provide high quality and a breadth of on-site services to patients to reduce their pathway and the constraints which can be faced in the public sector.

We have over 25,000 patients across NSW and QLD ranging in age, sex, religions, sexual orientations, etc. We absolutely want to promote equality and acceptance for all. Each of our practices has a very unique design concept which was planned to allow patients to feel a sense of luxury and comfort when onsite. We are trying to take away the traditional frustrations, inefficiencies and ‘unpleasantries’ which are often associated with seeing healthcare professionals.”

Patients do not always find it easy when they visit healthcare professionals and so it is important that when they are visiting for the first time, staff must ensure that the outcome meets the needs of both clinicians and patients. Sarah talks about embracing change and approaching each new patient with a clean slate and unique view, making sure they feel comfortable with the process.

“I embrace change and strive to bring about efficiencies whilst always ensuring that the quality and safety of patient care remains paramount. This has led to some major projects within the company during my tenure.

These would absolutely not have been possible without the engagement and assistance of both the internal staff members but also the Clinicians, the patients and the associated third parties. I ensure visibility with all of my staff across the three sites so that I can continuously calibrate my role in the context

of the organisation and inform where I need to place my focus, both in terms of the projects currently ongoing and also for future opportunities. It is a vital aspect of my role that I balance conflicting priorities across disparate groups of stakeholders and also the daily operational challenges with the longer term strategic vision, ensuring successful accomplishment of both.”

The organisation has a strategy in place which occasionally is adapted to suit the needs of the business and the environment.

However, Sarah points out that the main goals never change, as the team are always looking to be at the forefront of medicine and offer patients an assortment of services which they would not find elsewhere.

Whilst certain aspects of our strategy have changed year on year depending on the environment or the needs of the business, ultimately our strategy has always been to remain at the forefront of medicine, offering patients a breadth of services with easy and speedy access and to deliver these services in a vibrant, unique and luxurious environment. To ensure we deliver requires both constant engagement with our patients to understand their experience and also to constantly be aware of the healthcare field and new opportunities available. I strive to involve all staff, particularly my managers in scoping these areas to allow them ownership of their ideas and to sustain their motivation. I also hope that this will naturally create a succession plan for myself, and other key players across the organisation.

Regarding the industry currently, Sarah discusses how the pressures within healthcare have changed dramatically and will continue to do so. There

10 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

“The pressures of healthcare today are so different to what they were 25 years ago, (and will inevitably change again in the next 25 years). This is due to several factors including the political environment; an aging population; the vast number of new and evolving treatments available; and the expectations of the general public. In addition, in Australia, there is the additional complexity of state and federal budgeting issues coupled with public and private services. Never before has it been so difficult and confusing for patients to know where and how to access the best care; the most appropriate provider; and whether to go through the public or private route. In addition, there is now endless information available to everyone through technology and the internet.

More often than not, patients have researched their symptoms and / or their preferred treatment options before even accessing care.

“Healthcare services need to be developed with these complexities in mind, taking advantage of the opportunities that can be created (e.g. giving patients more responsibility and input into their care by using technology to communicate and keep track of results, referrals, etc.)

I also strongly believe that there is not enough collaboration between countries when it comes to developing new services, systems and approaches. So many decisions are made at a political level without engaging the key players at a more operational level and mistakes are repeated globally because lessons have not been learnt.

There are exciting opportunities ahead for governments and privately owned organisations who choose to realize and take advantage of some of these issues.”

As CEO, Sarah must ensure everyone in the organization understand the vision and are all working towards achieving the same goals. With this in mind,

Sarah discusses her leadership style, highlighting the fact that she aims to lead by example and collaborate and engage with patients, making sure their comfort is at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

“I take a very collaborative approach in the way I work and strive to lead by example. This applies to all aspects of my role, from engaging with patients, to demonstrating a strong work ethic, treating others with kindness and fairness and being very clear about my expectations from the outset. I also understand that mistakes happen and that life gets in the way at times and try to work with my staff to bring out their strengths where possible. I strongly believe in balance in all aspects of life and often leave the office at 5pm to ensure I get home in time to put my daughter to bed and I hope this allows those around me to feel comfortable having a realistic work / life balance.

“That being said, I can be impatient and I like to work efficiently so when we take on new projects I set tight frames, though am proud to say we haven’t yet missed a deadline.

I also believe that it is imperative that all staff from entry level upwards, are aware of the organizational objectives and challenges that exist. For this reason, I write a quarterly CEO bulletin which is sent to every employee to ensure everyone feels included and aware. I meet with the managers fortnightly to review their areas and I attend weekly meetings with the Directors. Finally, we have many social events each year including drinks evenings, charity evets, etc. There is absolutely a sense of pride amongst the staff about where they work and who they work for. i.e. the patients.”

Naturally, there will be challenges which will arise for someone in the position of CEO. Sarah describes the change in moving from the public sector into the private sector, noting the increased budget she had but also commenting on how expectations increased.

“Coming from a career history in the public sector it was certainly a change moving into the private sector. Suddenly I was able to make very quick decisions and had a very generous budget.

Equally I had far less interaction

g

with patients and was working in a much smaller organisation (the NHS being the third largest organisation in the world). A key result area was in bringing the experiences I had developed in the NHS of pathway redesign and delivering efficiency savings into this new environment; relatively instant results were apparent.

Whilst huge layers of bureaucracy had been removed by moving into a privately owned organisation, the negative effects of this proved to be challenging.

The expectations of staff and Clinicians were very high and within reason, everyone’s ideas were achievable, but my role was about trying to develop a clear strategy that incorporated the visions of the Directors but was also cohesive and in the best interests of both the Board and the patients. Whilst this has meant navigating new territories for each party concerned, I am truly proud of the way we have worked to develop and shape the business into what it is today and feel excited for the next phase.”

Ultimately, Sarah tells us what she sees for the future of the

Your Healthcare Home in Sydney, Byron Bay and Brisbane

business. There are many upcoming developments for the organization, whilst Sarah is also keen to continue to work with the vision of offering a quality and luxury environment for patients.

“We have several big projects on the horizon. The first being the transition to a new medical software suite which will be a company wide change and a huge transition for all staff.

Luckily the company who own the software we have opted for are very engaged and accommodating which is priceless when it comes to a change such as this. In the longer term this advanced software will allow us to make far more effective use of data, further developing services targeting the needs of our current patients and the needs of the Australian community generally.

“We are also in the process of growing our Sydney practice to accommodate more Specialists, GPs and take on more Research studies, all of which will offer patients a wider more tailored service.

“In addition, we will continue to work on our long term vision of offering a quality, luxury, one-stop shop for all patients focusing on proactive healthcare rather than the traditional approach of simply treating the symptoms once they have appeared.”

With regards to her own career, Sarah informs us of how she plans to build upon her current success, looking to benefit both the firm and increase her own success. There is a real determination in Sarah to be the best and learn from her experiences and it is clear from the outset that she will continue to develop and reinnervate the healthcare industry for the better.

“One of my tutors during my MSc told me that there tend to be two types of ways people develop their careers. Those who know where they want to get to and undertake the appropriate training and experience to get there; and those who are unsure what / where they ultimately may end up and so consider each role they take on and try to make their CV look as attractive as possible. I would say I fit into the latter category. Each role I

have undertaken in my career to date has offered incredible insight and experience as well as the opportunity to work with some of the most qualified and brilliant Clinicians and leaders in the healthcare world. I have also met some incredibly brave, inspirational and challenging patients. I have no idea what the next decade will bring but the world of healthcare is facing some very tough times, both in Australia and across the globe.

I aspire to continue to play a part in the constant re-design and development of how service delivery will look and ensuring it puts the needs of patients first.”

Company: Rainleigh Pty Ltd (trading as Holdsworth House Medical) Contact: Sarah Holland Contact Email: Sarah.Holland@ holdsworthhouse.com.au Address: Level 3, 26 College St, Sydney, AUSTRALIA Phone: 02 9331 7228 Web Address: www.holdsworthhouse.com.au

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 11

,

GCE17051

A Positive and Dynamic Learning Community Tanglin Trust School Limited (TTS) is a large international school with a community of 3,500 staff and students, established in 1925 to serve the expatriate population of Singapore. They recently won two prestigious awards: Most Inspirational Education Business Leader 2017 & Best International School 2017 – Singapore. To mark these splendid achievements, we invited the school’s CEO, Peter Derby-Crook to tell us more about his rewarding career in the education sector.

Tanglin Trust School Limited (TTS) is a large international school with a community of 3,500 staff and students, established in 1925 to serve the expatriate population of Singapore. It has a worldwide reputation for high standards and producing ‘good people’.

Being in education and working with talented staff and students carries with it many rewards. However, to receive this recognition from CEO Monthly does means a lot to me. I accept it in all humility, knowing that anything I have achieved has been on the back of many dedicated, exceptional staff, in both the academic and administrative sectors. Certainly, the quality of the people I have worked with has allowed me the privilege to be associated with outstanding success.

My aim at TTS has been for everyone to look forward to coming to school and for us to be both a positive and dynamic learning community. Our vision statement says it all:

‘We aspire to be the best school in the world, with a dynamic learning community which nurtures and inspires everyone to be the best they can be’.

At TTS, everyone is important, no matter what their position or role is. I hope that everyone feels valued, respected and a part of the ongoing success we enjoy.

Tanglin Trust School has earned the accolade presented by CEO Monthly and as such, I am delighted that our achievements of a period of many years, have been recognised.

The arrival of several new schools recently in Singapore, has forced us to focus more sharply on what we are, what TTS does and how we do it. Our recently revised Core Values of Respect, Responsibility and Purpose has provided useful reference points in this respect.

Our overall response to the arrival of new schools has been to ensure both relevance and quality. To date, this appears to be working with most classes full and lots of interest in joining the school.

12 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

A major investment in space resources has begun and will transform the school infrastructure by 2021. Phase one of this development has been completed, providing a stunning and iconic frontage to the school in the seven storeys, ultra-modern Nixon Building.

Phase two of this exciting development will begin in 2019.

This is an incredibly exciting time to be working in schools.

We are living in a time when a major world-wide revolution in education and learning, with the roles of teacher and learner being totally redefined. Emerging technology has certainly been a factor in this, but more importantly, schools are now rethinking their purpose.

At TTS, we like the word ‘flourish’. We want to nurture our community, so that it flourishes now and in the future.

Consequently, the wellbeing of both staff and students has been placed at the heart of our strategic plan. We can’t deny that achieving outstanding academic results in I/GCSEs, A-Levels and the International

Baccalaureate Diploma and facilitating our graduates’ entry to top universities, are important to us. Both students and parents’ academic expectations remain high. However, the accompanying life-skills, aptitudes and attitudes to allow the students to flourish are every bit as important.

As a leader, to achieve the above, my strategy is to work with a sense of humility that demonstrates my respect for the skills and capabilities of colleagues. I am an optimistic, positive person with lots of energy and an undying passion for schools as well as what they can do for everyone in them.

Being seen, sharing my ideas, listening to and working with colleagues is important to me. I love the vibrancy of enthusiastic staff and students, who are keen to be the best they can be whilst enjoying the process.

I try to demonstrate my expectations, not through demands and rules, but through example and by being there as far as possible to understand both the challenges and

g A Positive and Dynamic Learning Community

opportunities. I have the qualities of patience and understanding, for those trying hard to do their best and I will provide all the support I can for them. Effective teaching and learning relies on a great deal of passion and commitment, over and above the minimal requirements. I have little patience for those unwilling to dedicate themselves fully to this most wonderful and important profession.

I have been incredibly fortunate in my career to have had leadership roles for over thirty years, in both the UK and abroad. I have worked with some amazing students, teachers, governors and administrators.

TTS is no different and I know that when I leave Tanglin in July 2018, after eight rewarding and enjoyable years, I will miss many people and the special ethos that exists there.

I will be moving for the first time in my career, to supporting schools and school development outside of a single school. I am excited by the opportunity of working for GEMS Education, based in Dubai, to support the development of their schools and projects. I am aware of the quality of the people at GEMS and their commitment to put a quality education within the reach of every student, so I am very much looking forward to this next step in my career.

Name: Peter Derby-Crook Email: Peter.Derby-Crook@tts.edu.sg Web Address: www.tts.edu.sg Address: 95 PORTSDOWN ROAD 139299, Singapore Telephone: +65 6778 0771

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 13

,

1707CE03

A Leader in the Electronics Industry Sierra Circuits is a Silicon Valley-based, high-technology printed circuit boards manufacturer and assembler, who were pleased to be included in the 2017 Global CEO Top 100. To celebrate this achievement, we interviewed the company’s CEO, Ken Bahl, to learn more about them, their R&D projects and his career.

Sierra Circuits specializes in assisting printed circuit board designers, to quickly prototype their designs. They have the highest technology, quickest turnaround time in the industry, to support the designer’s schedule and ultimately to help the endcustomer meet their time-tomarket deadlines. Sierra Circuits continuously works on R&D projects, to assist the designers in their next level products.

Ken Bahl tells us more about the company and provides a flavor of his own career background, as the interview kicks off.

“All forward-looking company like Apple, Google, Amazon, Tesla and about twenty-thousand more are our customers. We see their inventions at an early stage and help commercialize them.

“I started my career as a process engineer in the electronics industry. From there, every two to three years, I would get a promotion for the next job, ending up in President and General Manager roles. All of them were in electronics industry and on multiple occasions, I helped save and grow businesses. Based on that experience, I decided to start my own business, because of the freedom it provided me to continuously grow, and implement my ideas without

constraints.

“Every job I did was an extension to my experience, so, when I started the company I felt I had completed my business education. For the last 33 years, Sierra Circuits has been continuously improving, growing and innovating to service the industry better.”

Ken then highlights the company’s approach when undertaking a new client or project, how it feels to have been selected in the 2017 Global CEO Top 100 and their ongoing strategy.

“Our object is to educate, support, and service the Design Engineers. In that mission, we have customer service representatives, engineering departments and product consulting that is offered to our customers. Our end objective is to make sure the customer is completely taken care of, in terms of fulfilling their engineering needs. Our numerous customer testimonials confirm that we are doing a good job for them.

“I feel very good to be a part of the 2017 Global CEO Top 100.

It is an honour that the company has achieved the status worthy of being in that group.

“Our ongoing strategy is to service increasing number

14 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

of design engineers on a worldwide basis. To achieve this, we take frequent customer inputs to update and enhance our service to them. Whatever benefits them, becomes part of our plan. However, what the customer cannot tell us is about the process innovations that can improve the quality, technology levels and cost of the future electronic products.

That is why we have internal technical and R&D teams. We are in the process of patenting technologies, that will give the electronic industry a major boost.

For example, the performance levels that the wireless industry will need for future innovations, cannot be met with current technology; Sierra is on the path to innovate the process to meet those needs!”

The conversation then moves to the wider industry, as Ken explains to us. He also provides us with a taste of his leadership style, that is how to ensure that everyone understands his vision and works towards it.

“In all my career, I’ve never seen the speed with which innovative products are being created today.

It is also unprecedented how quickly old products are being changed with new innovative designs. The time-to-market is shrinking for every OEM and that gives us increasing opportunities to service them, with our highest technology and quickest

turnaround time. I don’t believe this trend will change soon.

“When it comes to my leadership style, I believe that communication with all the employees must be a part of the core culture creating aspect of every organization. We’re always finding new ways to motivate our teams to achieve the company objectives. The firm’s general philosophy is that if we take care of the employees, then they will take care of the business.

Our continuous effort to provide career opportunities for employees and providing them with challenges that keep them excited is in our firm’s DNA.” Ken is keen to reveal the challenges Sierra Circuits has encountered and how they have affected his role, plus he shares his future ambitions for the company.

“In the past 33 years, we have reinvented ourselves almost every five years, so that we can keep pace with current industry needs and improve our service to design engineers. We want to be the design engineers’ best friend and we have always met the challenge of providing the best service to them.

“Our future aspirations are to service every design engineer in the world and continuously improve our commitment to them, by creating as much

g

A Leader in the Electronics Industry

automation as we can to help their decision-making process, and help them to design optimum products. So, all our effort will go in this direction.

When an engineer thinks of prototyping, the first name that should come to their mind is Sierra Circuits. That is our clear objective. “My career goal is to continuously improve Sierra’s business and to set up the organization for strongly predictable and sustained growth. One final thought, is that our dreams are big, and so are our challenges.

Creating an organization that is worthy of our mission, is indeed what fuels my fire every day.

Company: Sierra Circuits, Inc Name: Ken Bahl Email: ken@protoexpress.com Web Address: www. protoexpress.com Address: 1108 W, Evelyn Avenue, Sunnyvale, California 94086 USA Telephone: +1 408 735 7137

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 15

,

1707CE03

A CEO in the Global Semiconductor Industry Pivotal Systems is the critical process gas flow control technology leader in the $300 billion global semiconductor industry. We interviewed the firm’s CEO, John Hoffman to find out more about his career background and role as a leader, following their inclusion in the 2017 Global CEO Top 100.

Pivotal Systems global HQ is in Fremont, California.

They have offices in Europe, Taiwan, Japan, China, Singapore and Korea as well as manufacturing centres in the United States, China and Korea. Pivotal Systems has developed the most advanced gas flow control technology in the world. Their products are installed on leading semiconductor process tools, to include Applied Materials, Lam Research, Tokyo Electron and Advanced Manufacturing Equipment Company (AMEC).

Pivotal Systems was the INC 500 Fastest Growing Engineering Company in 2015 and the company has won multiple Global Red Herring Awards for Innovation.

device manufactures around the world including Samsung, TSMC, Winbond, UMC, SONY, Texas Instruments and SK Hynix. In each case, our goal is to enable our customers to be far more productive by using our flow control products.

Ultimately, we enable them to provide better products at a lower cost to their customers. One of our top priorities is to make our customers successful as we believe our success will follow.

The firm’s John Hoffman reveals more to us and shares his career background, prior to achieving his current position of senior leadership.

“I started in the global semiconductor industry as a first line manager at Applied Materials. Over my many years there I was very fortunate to work with some of the great technologists and leaders in the industry. James Morgan, Chairman and CEO, Dan Maydan, President, Sass Somekh, Joe Bronson and David N.K. Wang all took a personal interest in my development and continually provided me opportunities to grow.

“These multi-million dollar process tools have been installed in the leading semiconductor

“This included establishing offices in Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and China in the early

16 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

1990’s. It also included living in Israel, while merging two acquisitions. It included being the general manager of several business groups over the years.

These mentors also gave me the freedom to serve on outside boards of directors, to gain further experience.

“After Applied Materials restructured in 2005, I was offered the opportunity to be the CEO of a growing private company, RagingWire Enterprise Solutions. While there, I was fortunate to work with a group of fantastic technologists and business executives. RagingWire was constantly completing major capital projects, to keep pace with their extraordinary growth.

I enjoyed my time there and in 2011 I could get back into the semiconductor industry, by becoming the CEO of Pivotal Systems.”

John adds that all his experience at Applied Materials, working with leading semiconductor customers, was a huge help in shaping Pivotal to be a technology leader. He then is

keen to tell us about the firm’s approach when undertaking a new client or project.

“Dr. Joseph Monkowski, the founder of Pivotal Systems and perhaps the best technologist I have ever had the pleasure to work with, shared my passion for ‘working with technology leaders and solving the tough problems’. To do this, you must build relationships with the key customers and never, ever lose their trust. Customer trust is the key ingredient to our growth.

“This is a great topic because it goes to the heart of any successful business. As a supplier, you must understand your customers’ business as well as your own. If you do not, you can often be led into projects that seem to be strategic but somehow, they fall flat. I have found over the years, that the best way to truly get a ‘gut feel’ about taking on a project or a new client requires plenty of face-to-face meetings and a meal or two with your potential partner. Good leaders know that their people are their most

g A CEO in the Global Semiconductor Industry

important asset, so deploying personnel requires a great deal of diligence. Therefore, project goals must be defined explicitly and measurement systems must be agreed to, by both parties.

“Timelines must be agreed to and synced continuously. You can best define our approach as precise and objective - driven with the end goal of exceeding our customers’ expectations.”

John moves the conversation to focus on what being part of the 2017 Global CEO Top 100 means to him and his team.

“Being selected for the 2017 Global CEO Top 100 is a great honour. I have never set out to win awards as an individual, because my primary responsibility is to our shareholders, customers and the employees at Pivotal Systems.

“This award is really an award for all the employees at Pivotal Systems. Our company has been built by great people and plenty of hard work. The most important thing about this award, is that it brings attention to all their great work and success. It is a pleasure for me to go to work each day and spend time with so many inspiring people. They deserve all the credit.”

Staying on this note of positivity, John shares with us the firm’s ongoing strategy, including the techniques employed to ensure that this is achieved.

“Pivotal Systems continues excellent growth year after year, as we are constantly improving our existing products, while adding new ones to serve new markets. We started out with flow control products in the plasma etch portion of semiconductor manufacturing. This market was growing quickly and it was by far the most demanding, from a technical standpoint.

“We understood that success in this market would enable us to be highly competitive, in every market. We also knew that the semiconductor industry is unforgiving if you have a false start. Billions of dollars of product

come out of our customer’s factories each year and our products are directly involved in the production process.

“Therefore, our suppliers and our manufacturing organisation must operate at the very highest levels of quality. Pivotal Systems has daily Sales, R&D and Operations meetings every morning without exception. Our Executives call in from around the world to provide insights and information. Therefore, Pivotal Systems operates off a common understanding of our customers’ reality each and every day. This allows the top 10 executives to assist each other in timely, synchronised, meaningful actions. In many cases, more than one organisation is required to deliver the solutions our customers need.”

John then directs his thoughts towards the wider industry and the impact this has on firms, such as Pivotal Systems. He also reveals the secrets of his leadership style, including how to ensure that all his staff understand the vision and strive towards it.

“Currently, the global semiconductor industry is in a cycle of rapid growth and continued consolidation. While Moore’s law has slowed, innovation has accelerated to find new ways to fit more transistors per cubic centimetre of silicon. The Internet of Things (IoT) and the abundance of semiconductor opportunities continues to accelerate. The opportunities to improve healthcare, general wellbeing and productivity in our global society have never been greater.

I could not be more excited to live now and contribute to this great industry.

“I operate with a very simple approach. Understand your customer’s needs, understand how you can best support their needs and then set your priorities. Those priorities need to be validated by our board of directors and modified if necessary. Those priorities then are turned into six to seven measurable enterprise

level objectives that are then cascaded down the entire organisation.

“Each employee should feel that their work enables successful achievement to one or more of these objectives. We spend management time reviewing in depth how various organisations support each Objective as either a ‘primary owner’ or as a ‘supporter’. If an organisation is doing something outside the boundaries created by these objectives, we eliminate that effort.”

The interview then finishes with John’s concluding remarks, which includes the challenges and opportunities that face a CEO, as well as his future aspirations for the firm.

“In any high growth company, the CEO must make sure that the enterprise has the cash and talent required to navigate through all the perils of a dynamic global marketplace. This is both never ending and critically important. I once had breakfast with the retired chairman of the board of Applied Materials, James Morgan. He asked me: ‘Hoffman, what’s is the biggest surprise you had becoming a

CEO?’ I replied: ‘Jim, I was truly surprised at just how great you were at what you were doing.

As general managers, we focused on our products and the customers. We had no idea how hard you were working to make those our only priority’. That lesson has kept me focused on making sure Pivotal Systems key leaders have exactly what they need to be successful.

“Looking ahead, I would say that Pivotal Systems is poised to be one of the great technology engines in the high-tech market.

Flow control is a great start and we have much work to do to fully reach our potential in this space.

The scientists and engineers we have are fantastic. Our relentless pace of introducing new products each year will continue. We will always strive to meet the needs of our great customers and the rest will take care of itself.”

Company: Pivotal Systems Name: John Hoffman Email: jhoffman@pivotalsys.com Web Address: pivotalsys.com Address: 48389 Fremont Blvd.

Suite 100 Fremont, California 94538 USA Telephone: 510-770-9125

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 17

1707CE03

Achieving Sustainability through Science and Technology FLOGEN Technologies Inc. is a high-tech technology company independently incorporated in Canada and USA, with offices around the world.

The CEO of FLOGEN Technologies Inc. is Dr. Florian Kongoli, who was awarded last month “The Environmental Tech CEO of the Year 2017” The following is a profile of Dr. Kongoli and of his company FLOGEN Technologies Inc., whose intensive work on sustainable technologies all over the world was the key factor in granting him this award. During our interview with Dr. Kongoli, he provides his major points of view on the thorny issues of our current reality.

Dr. Florian Kongoli is CEO of FLOGEN Technologies Inc. (www.flogen.com), a high-tech technology company independently incorporated in Canada and USA, with representative offices around the world. It mainly specializes in two objectives: (a) the development of new sustainable technologies and (b) transforming existing technologies into sustainable ones.

making; and recycling and waste treatment.

The firm’s areas of expertise include: metallurgical, chemical, and environmental industries; various smelting, converting and refining processing in nonferrous (Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, Fe-Ni, Fe-Cr, PGMs, etc.) extraction and processing; iron and steel

Last year the company celebrated 20 years of successful operations and business excellence, which is attributed to the application of his unique systems in almost all smelting, converting, refining and recycling reactors (Mitsubishi, TSL, Flash,

FLOGEN Technologies Inc. has developed unique proprietary design, decision-making, control, optimization, and automation systems that have been successfully applied in various companies around the world, covering almost all existing technologies and generating operation savings that range from US$ 5 to $ 15 Million per year.

18 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

Teniente, Noranda, Plasma, Pierce Smith, Hoboken, Anode, Waelz, Roasters, Electric, Sintering, Pelletizing, Blast, Shaft, BOF, etc.)

The contribution of the company in sustainable technologies has been widely recognized. This includes excellent reference letters from major industrial companies, as well as two letters that the company received last year by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Natural Resources of Canada, which recognized “the significant contribution that FLOGEN makes toward scientific research related to new sustainable technologies.”

The News Section of the FLOGEN Technologies Inc. web site (www.flogen.com/news.php)

Dr Florian Kongoli - “The Environmental Tech CEO of the Year 2017” reflects the vast and intensive worldwide activity of Dr. Kongoli, and his dynamic involvements are truly impressive. For most, the intensity of his commitments

g Achieving Sustainability through Science and Technology

might very well appear to border on the verge of impossible; but in fact, upon following the activity described in the company’s website, this has been this CEO’s normal working schedule since at least 2008. This schedule is filled with numerous research activities, scientific and technology publications, as well as frequent visits around the world on technology business, conferences, as well as meetings with political leaders.

His impressive list of meetings include numerous Nobel Laureates, CEOs, and political leaders such as: Prime Minister of Canada; President of Finland; President of Chile; Prime Minister of Netherlands; Members of UK House of Lords; Ministers of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Transports of Canada; European Union Commissioner for the Environment; Premiers of Quebec and Manitoba; Governor of Florida, USA; Ministers of Natural Resources, Intergovernmental Affairs, Transportation; Minister of Economic Development, Health, and Social Services of Quebec; Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation; President of Kosovo; Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo; Prime Minister and Minister of Education of Albania; Ministers of Mining and Minister of

Environment of Chile; Minister of Environment and National Resources of Mexico; Minister of Environment of Poland; Seychelles Minister of Foreign Affairs; Minister of Environment and Energy of Maldives; Ministers of Commerce and Industry, New and Renewable

Energy, and Union Cabinet Minister of India; Ministers of State of Environment and of Health and Social Services of Portugal; Ministers of Agriculture, Forest, and National Environment Commission of Bhutan; Minister of Sustainable Development, of Forest Economy and

Environment of Congo; Minister of Water & Environment of Uganda; Union Minister of Environmental Conservation and Forestry of Myanmar; Environment Secretary of Kenya; Speaker of the Canadian Senate; many other senators and members of parliaments of Canada and European Union, etc.

Based on an interview he gave us, we will be summarizing the vast activity of this exceptional CEO in two sections: firstly, we will outline his experience and accomplishments in the arena of applied industrial research and development, as well as his impressive network of academic connections; secondly, we will explore his lifelong commitment to achieving sustainability through science and technology, and to raising the profile and importance of scientists and engineers in society.

Dr. Florian Kongoli with the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, in June 2017

An Accomplished Scientific and Technology Career In the past 25 years, Dr. Kongoli’s experience has encompassed both sustainable industrially applied research and development, as well as academic lecturer experience in many invited engagements throughout Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, North America, and

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 19

South America. He is highly involved in both industrial and pure scientific projects, which comprise of a wide array of fields such as: design, decisionmaking, control, optimisation, and automation of processes and flowsheets; physical and thermochemical modelling; and physicochemical properties of mattes, metals, gases, and oxysulfides.

Through his work with FLOGEN Technologies Inc., Dr. Kongoli has successfully carried out many industrial projects for more than 47 well-known metallurgical and chemical companies, such as Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, Sumitomo Metal Mining (Japan), Falconbridge (now Xstrata/Glencore-Canada), Western Mining Corporation (now BHP Billiton-Australia).

He has also enjoyed productive collaborations with several well-known higher education establishments from around the world, such as Tohoku University (Japan), Curtin University (Australia), and University of Montreal (Canada).

Considerations held in San Diego, CA, USA in 2003, and Modern Technologies in NonFerrous Smelting & Recycling: Efficiency, Control, Energy, and Environmental Issues, held in Cancun, Mexico from November 27th to December 1st 2011.

Reflecting upon his career, Dr. Florian Kongoli says: “I have enjoyed serving in many leadership positions, in both national and international organizations. I have found my involvement in various positions - for instance as a chair, vicechair, or member - of about 20 professional society committees truly rewarding.”

Dr. Kongoli’s excellent business management and organization skills have been instrumental in steering his company toward new ground breaking technologies.

He has delivered approximately 200 plenary, keynote, and invited presentations, as well as articles, technical reports, and research presentations in 20 countries around the globe. The results of his work, and FLOGEN’s control and automation systems, have been used by companies throughout the world.

Furthermore, Dr. Kongoli serves as an editorial and scientific board member of several professional journals, including: • The Metallurgical and Materials Processing E (USA); • The Minerals and Metallurgical Processing Journal (USA); • Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy (UK/ Australia); • Erzmetall (Germany); • European Journal of Mineral Processing and Environmental Protection (Turkey/Europe); • Journal of Metallurgy (USA/ Egypt); • Journal of International Environmental Application & Science (Turkey/Europe); • Journal of Mining and Metallurgy (Serbia/Europe) and; • Journal of Industrial Engineering (USA/Egypt); • InTech (Croatia/Europe and Shanghai/China, • International Journal of Engineering Business Management (Croatia/ Europe).

He has taught several continuing education courses, including Sulfide Smelting: Principles, Technologies, and Environmental

Dr. Kongoli has also served as a member of organizing committees and scientific committees, of about 80

In addition, Dr. Kongoli has published and edited 51 books, and 120 scientific articles in professional peer-reviewed journals during the last five years. These have addressed a wide range of topics, such as process control; optimization and automation; development of novel sustainable technologies; physical modelling of various properties of industrial mattes, metals, and effects of minor components and fluxing strategies.

20 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

professional international conferences, across all continents. Today, he is a member of the Industrial Achievement Award Committee of International Federation of Automatic Control.

In addition to his business, Dr. Kongoli is also the founder and chairman of FLOGEN STAR OUTREACH (www.flogen. org), a non-profit international organization dedicated to achieving sustainability through technology, and raising the social profile and importance of scientists, technologists, and engineers and their supporters towards realizing a sustainable future (both subjects to be dealt later in this article).

Through this organization, he has successfully coordinated and chaired the FLOGEN flagship annual event: Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit (SIPS). This event features some of the most well-known personalities in the world of science and technology.

Some of the most notable events are detailed below: • Yazawa International Symposium on Metallurgical and Materials Processing: Principles and Technologies (www.flogen. org/YazawaSymposium), held in San Diego, California, USA, in March 2003. This event had 31 sessions and more than 3000 pages of publications from authors from 36 countries around the world - the biggest international symposium at the time in its class.

•

Sohn International Symposium on Advanced Processing of Metals and Materials: Principles, Technologies and Industrial Practice (www.flogen.org/ SohnSymposium), held in San Diego, California, USA, in August 2006. This event set a new record, surpassing the magnitude of the previous symposium with about 500 papers from authors from 80 countries and about 6000 pages of publications.

•

SIPS 2011: Fray International Symposium on Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment (www.flogen.com/FraySymp osium), held in Cancun, Mexico, in November/December 2011.

This was another record breaking symposium in many aspects, with about 500 abstracts from authors from 85 countries around the world, culminating in seven volumes of publications of more than 4000 pages. This event was sponsored by 230 societies and organizations worldwide, including 10 major industrial corporate sponsors, and three government financial sponsorships.

•

SIPS 2013: American Automatic Control Council/ IFAC International symposium of Automation in Mining, Mineral and Metals held in San Diego, California, USA, in August 2013, (www. flogen. org/MMM2013).

•

SIPS 2014: Shechtman International Symposium dedicated to Prof. Shechtman, the 2011 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry (www.flogen. org/ ShechtmanSymposium), held in Cancun, Mexico, in June/July 2014. About 500 abstracts from authors from 80 countries around the world, were published into 7 volumes of more than 4000 pages.

•

SIPS 2015: Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit & Exhibition, (http://www.flogen. org/ sips2015/) held in Antalya, Turkey, in October 2015.

This event had more than 500 abstracts from authors from 80 countries around the world, published into 11 volumes of more than 5000 pages.

g Achieving Sustainability through Science and Technology

with Less”, which in other words, is also one of the goals of automation. By replacing the routine part of human labor with the use of machines, automation not only increases productivity and the quality of products beyond what can be achieved by humans, but also frees space, time, and energy for humans to deal with the new, nonroutine challenge of developing innovative and more advanced technologies. This magnificent cycle, in which established developments are automated and the free resources achieved by this automation are used to develop newer technologies that are subsequently automated, is one of the most successful recipes for the human race towards the goal of sustainable development.”

New FLOGEN Sustainability Framework

•

SIPS 2016: Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit & Exhibition, held in Hainan Island, China, in November 2016:(http://www.flogen.org/ sips2016/). More than 500 abstracts from authors from 80 countries around the world, and 11 volumes of publications.

Sustainability Framework Given today’s complicated and ever confusing descriptions of sustainability, we asked for Dr. Kongoli’s perspective on this issue. He agreed that there exists a confusion, and refers to his recent publication: “The criteria, the actors, the goals, have been unsystematically mixed without a clear distinction. The original definition of sustainable development has 3 intersecting criteria: environmental protection, economic development, and social development. In order to achieve sustainable development, these three criteria need to be fulfilled simultaneously. Additional

inclusions of culture, politics, governance, and institutions as defining criteria is illogical.

Culture is part of social development, which is already one of the criteria for sustainable development.

Politics, government and institutions are actors that can achieve or undermine sustainable development with their actions, laws, regulations etc. It is extremely important to have a clear distinction between the definition of sustainable development as a set of criteria to be achieved and the actors that can either help achieve or undermine these criteria.

Dr. Kongoli shows us his newly designed graphical schema of sustainability framework, which has been published previously and also reproduced above.

Sustainability and Automation Given today’s somewhat negative view in society about automation as a job destroyer, we asked him about the link between automation and sustainability – both subjects that

are the major specialties of his company.

He replies that a quick look at the history of the 20th century shows that automation has been perpetually under attack for taking away jobs from society.

Despite that, automation has been developing continuously and applied in all aspects of life.

Taking away jobs makes automation look like it does not fulfill the social and economic development criteria of sustainable development.

However, the reality has to be looked at in the big picture and not in isolated domains. He refers us to a full analysis on the subject, which is carried out in both a recent article he published, as well as in his 2012 book “Automation”. The latter recently reached a record of 55,000 downloads. In its preface, he writes: “Automation is closely related to the modern need for sustainable development in the 21st century. One of the principles of sustainability is “Doing More

Sustainability: Recycling or Landfilling Given the existing contradicting theories and movements that exist today on the best feasible way to treat a waste through recycling or landfilling, we asked Dr. Kongoli for his opinion.

He said that it is true that some purely recycling companies have gone bankrupt because of the high cost of recycling technology used. However, recycling is always a sustainable practice if the economic criteria of sustainability is fulfilled.

Landfilling is sustainable only if no feasible and competitive cost-wise technology of recycling exists.

He mentioned that historically, the philosophy of any technology and industrial practice has been to produce high performance products, and landfill any related process waste. Based on this philosophy, the old Central Paradigm of Materials Science and Engineering was defined as: Processing -> Structure -> Property -> Performance Dr. Kongoli and his colleagues have proven that this is not sustainable, and they have proposed in their publications a Modified Central Paradigm of Materials Science and

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 21

Engineering that includes recycling as a sustainability dimension: Processing -> Structure -> Property -> Performance -> Reutilization/Recyclability They have represented this new paradigm in a circular way as given below:

all of which are important– but rarely on science, technology, and engineering as one of the most important solution-providing factors in sustainability.

“Science has been often credited only for its diagnostic role in pointing out and demonstrating numerous issues facing the environment

New Circular Central Paradigm of Materials Science and Engineering

However, in order to be sustainable, the recycling technology used needs to be cost effective, thus fulfilling one important dimension of sustainability. It is exactly here that the role of science and technology is primordial.

Sustainability Through Science and Technology Dr. Florian Kongoli believes that the role of science and technology in sustainability is a diagnostic and strongly remedial one. Dr. Kongoli elaborates on his views on this subject.

The role of science, technology and engineering has almost been overlooked in the last 25 years in the social and political debates related to sustainability, environmental protection and climate change. The attention has been placed on areas such as social awareness, economy, management, and education–

and climate change in the 20th and 21st centuries. It is positively referred to for showing the problems and providing scientific measuring results to demonstrate problems, such as average global temperature increase and other various associated issues.

However, from that point, the ball (recognition) seems to stop rolling. Although it is good to credit science, technology, and engineering for their diagnostic role, this is only half of their contribution. The other and most important part, is neglected.

“Simple research shows that there is a very high number of studies from centers around the world, that have produced countless comprehensive reports about the economy, social awareness, management, education, and way of life as solutions to both climate change issues and sustainability. A great deal of money has been spent in various countries on these

22 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

in various countries on these studies that, while valuable, tend to repeat the same ideas and are inflationary when it comes to results and conclusions. Studies on why and how technology can solve the issues of climate change and sustainability, are virtually non-existent.”

In international socio-political gatherings on sustainability where Dr. Kongoli has participated, the role of science, technology, and engineering has been frequently ignored. Dr. Kongoli then goes on to develop a fascinating point.

“Other aspects have been extensively discussed, yet science and technology has rarely been in the picture.

Some well-known speakers, with social and economic backgrounds, have often publicly considered the role of science and technology as a delayed, inefficient, or non-affecting factor in solving pressing climate change issues. Instead, they have opted to create and establish arbitrary new laws and regulations as the only remedial actions available, without even consulting science and engineering.

“In my opinion, this seems to be not only a good non-starter, but also ironic. They refer to scientific studies to provide evidence for global warming, and as a basis to establish action plans to remedy the problems. However, these actions that originate from science, somehow do not include science and technology as an important solution.

“I have publicly countered and debated vigorously on this stance with scientific and technological concepts in various socio-political meetings. I’m glad to say that I have successfully changed the minds of several of these individuals, about the role of science and technology.”

Dr. Kongoli then reveals the limitations that exist in non-exact science domains. He recounts Queen Elizabeth II of England’s visit at an economic institute, sometime after the economic crisis of 2008.

“When the director of the institute was explaining to her their work on analysing the economic data and predicting the economic future, the Queen asked a simple question: ‘If, as you say, you predict the economy, why could you not predict the economic crisis of 2008?’ The director responded: ‘Your majesty, if we would have known, we would have predicted it.’

“In another case, in a meeting I was at about a year ago, a recent Nobel Prize Laureate in Economics declared in his major speech, that for any bad prediction on the economy by economists, the people to be blamed are not economists but politicians.

“As UK Lord Prescott said, in one of the FLOGEN summits, it is easy to put the blame on ‘externalities’ for any inability of economics to properly predict economic phenomena. According to him, there is evidence that more and more people will use this as a reason to justify why they are not able to achieve the objectives of sustainability.”

Lord Prescott went even further in his speech, saying that “The natural law of economics has not worked, and has certainly not achieved sustainability. As one economist said, this was probably the largest failure of the market operating system to keep it in balance.”

In contrast, science and technology are generally exact when it comes to prediction, Dr. Kongoli adds. He then offers his thoughts on the issues around real sustainability.

“For any possible failure, scientists, technologists, and engineers cannot blame externalities or anybody else for their failure except themselves. However, science and technology are not problemfree. They have their own issues, although they are of a different nature.

Sustainability is frequently an unfamiliar concept for scientists consider it as a

g Achieving Sustainability through Science and Technology

Pictured from left to right: 2011 Nobel Laureate Prof. Dan Shechtman, UK Lord John Prescott, Dr. Florian Kongoli, 2010 Nobel Laureate Prof. Ei-Ichi Negishi at SIPS 2015 in Antalya, Turkey the scientific community in everyday work, and many scientists consider it as a political subject rather than a scientific one. Sometimes when there are scientific inventions or technological breakthroughs, they are claimed to be sustainable only in their local field. Having said that, if they miss the big picture, they are not sustainable.

“I firmly believe that scientific achievements can be used in both a positive and sustainable manner, or in a negative and non-sustainable way. For example, the dynamite invented

by Alfred Nobel for the mining of minerals, was eventually also used as an explosive in wars that followed.”

Due to its very nature, there are exact sciences and technology that can provide long term and sustainable solutions for climate change and global warming, Dr. Kongoli explains. He elaborates on these thoughts as he concludes this in-depth interview.

“In the last half of the 20th century, it was science, technology, and their innovations that saved the world from apocalyptic and accurate predictions that resources (food and water) were depleting.

Since climate change is mainly caused by carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere through the

burning of oil, coke, coal, and natural gas, scientific research can develop new alternative technologies that either do not produce carbon dioxide, capture carbon dioxide and use it for beneficial purposes, or reduce the risk factors of existing carbon-free technologies, such as nuclear, to make them more suitable for society.

“Science and technology make it possible to achieve all the above, and not only without sacrificing the current achievements by society in quality of life or other aspects, but they can also help in improving and developing current and future achievements. That is why science and technology should not be in the shadows as it is right now, but rather it should gain its prime role among other disciplines; finding and applying scientific and new technological solutions to effectively solve the issues of sustainability and climate change is certainly the right way to go.

“Politics can be used in a positive sustainable or negative non-sustainable way.

It can force the use of the sustainable inventions of science of technology in a wrong and non-sustainable way, as it did with dynamite. That is why, in a FLOGEN summit, Lord Prescott mentioned that the most useful role of politics, is to determine the best legal frameworks for the

development and use of scientific inventions in the right capacities.

“I have consistently and strongly advocated that the winning formula for succeeding and achieving sustainability, is fostering close cooperation between science, technology and engineering, politics, economy, and society, and leaving no one behind. A close and strong cooperation would ensure generous investments in financial resources from the economic sector, as well as human resources from the political sector in scientific and technology research. This would help us find the best short and long-term solution to the sustainability issues we face today.

“Every individual and every profession is important in this world, but a specific order of actions and priorities needs to be followed in order to be successful, and this starts with science and technology. The technology has the first and last word. As such, generous financial and human investments in scientific research and technology, is the best short and long term solution to the sustainability issues we face today.

“As seen above, the role of science and technology in

sustainable development is primordial. However, scientists and engineers are not properly recognized for their important contribution in the society. They need to be better recognized at a society-wide level for the crucial work they do in terms of sustainability.”

FLOGEN Star Outreach, a notfor-profit corporation, founded and chaired by Dr. Florian Kongoli, pioneered this work about 15 years ago, and is continuously working towards this vision with their yearly summits held around the world.

FLOGEN® Technologies Inc.

Name: Dr. Florian Kongoli Email: fkongoli@flogen.com; fkongoli@flogen.org Web Address: www.flogen.com and www.flogen.org Physical Addresses: 1255 LAIRD BLVD Suite 388, Mont-Royal, QC, Canada, H3P 2T1 3422 Old Capitol Trail, No. 791, Wilmington, DE, USA,19808 Tel. (Canada): +1 514 344-8786 ext. 220 Tel: (USA): +1-302-319-5575 ext. 220 Mobile: (Canada/USA) +1-514-999-4979 Mobile (UK): + 44 741 843 9851

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 23

,

1707CE03

From A to B at a Price You Can Afford Affordable Car Hire has become the UK’s leading car rental broker specialising in the B2B sector. We spoke to CEO, Angela Day to find out more about the company and also herself with regard to her awards - Automotive Hire CEO of the Year – UK and Best Woman-Owned Car Rental Company – UK. Affordable Car Hire came from humble beginnings. CEO Angela Day talks us through how the company was started and how it has become the successful company that it is today, listing the sacrifices that were made and how far the firm has spread globally. Angela also talks about the quality at the firm, both internally and externally as well as the company’s focus and where its loyalties lie.

“In 2004, I started Affordable Car Hire from our garage, having re-mortgaged our house, cashed in our savings, sold our car and extended our credit cards. I joined forces with my husband James Moore – now chairman – and a small team and Affordable Car Hire was created. The concept was quite simple – offer the full transparency of a quality product with a quality plus one service.

“It is not often than we really have a chance to look back and think about how far we have come, but we now work with over 500 car rental partners in 192 countries and across more than 30,000 worldwide locations. We have a multilingual website, which we have recently launched in Australia, New

Zealand, UAE and appointed global sales agents in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark. We work with the highest quality car rental companies, delivering a premium service with affordable prices at all times.

Angela tells us how it feels to win these awards and what she attributes to her success. She also predicts what difference winning the awards will make in terms of future business for her company. A lot of business may come through word of mouth and so Angela is delighted at winning the award as it may give prospective clients the push they need to come and work with the firm.

“I’m delighted and humbled to receive this award. We are all so focused on the day-to-day aspects of running Affordable Car Hire and working closely with our partners that it’s nice to look up now and then and see that your hard work is being recognised.

The award is a clear validation that we are offering a good product and excellent customer service, and it will hopefully give new clients the confidence they need to work with us.”

Having started working in travel, Angela talks us through her

24 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

previous roles and how she came to achieve her position as CEO. We asked her whether she draws on her past experiences when making decisions in her current role. Angela is very complimentary of the time she spent as a sales executive at a previous company and working her way up, stating that this experience gave her the confidence to start up her own company.

“I started working in travel in 1987 as a trainee reservations consultant for P&O Travel. I was there for quite a few years, developing the ‘down under’ club, leaning how to do all the back-toback ticketing, using Galileo, and it was a great way to start. From there I went to Holiday Autos in 1992 starting out as a Sales Executive, working my way up to Sales Manager before joining Worldwide Cars in 1998 after taking a year out to travel.

“Before eventually becoming Deputy Managing Director, I was at Worldwide Cars for six years and helped to build the business from five locations to 4000, and boosting turnover from £90,000 a year to £12m. My dedication at Worldwide Cars helped me to become recognised as a leading authority in the industry.

The years I spent at Worldwide

Cars gave me the confidence to go it alone and set up my own company, drawing on the experiences I had had both at Worldwide Cars and Holiday Autos.”

Proud of the customer service that Affordable Car Hire provides, Angela details the procedure that the firm undertakes when approaching a new project. She explains how she ensures that staff get it right from the start and that the outcome meets the needs of everyone involved.

Offering incentives in the travel trade is one way that the company guarantees it can sell its products. The live chat system implemented by Affordable ensures that staff are able to help with any queries at all times and these calls are recorded and used to train staff should any similar questions arise again.

Maintaining client relationships is vital to Affordable and is one of the incentives as to why the company provide such great customer service.

“Just as we aim to offer the full transparency of a quality product, I aim to be fully transparent with new clients – in our case travel agents and car rental suppliersabout what they are looking to achieve and how we can help them do that. The travel trade is

g From A to B at a Price You Can Afford

our backbone so we incentivise and offer commissions to sell our products starting from 10%. We also invest heavily in training, both through face-to-face visits and with online webinars.

“There is a ‘live chat’ system in place that allows agents and clients who have any queries to speak to staff on the website, who are available at all times.

A transcript of the conversation is then sent to the agent and a copy is kept by staff for future reference, should a similar query arise again. We also acknowledge the importance of ensuring agents are properly trained on our booking system, and for that reason we offer the Affordable Road to Success (Arts) webinar information and explanatory sessions. It provides agents with training modules to help them add revenue by making car hire easier to sell.

The courses are complemented by weekly training alerts and monthly free prize draws for those who pre-register.

“We like our agents to know exactly what’s happening and to feel like they can contact us anytime. Our national sales team regularly visit agents to maintain relationships and make sure we are both happy with how we’re working together.”

Regarding the company’s business and ongoing strategy, Angela outlines which techniques she employs as CEO to ensure that the company and its staff implement this strategy.

Highlighting that the firm is a family-run business, staff adopt a very hands-on approach and are constantly trying to be innovative with regard to its products and technology, as Angela explains.

“Our ongoing strategy is to continue to innovate and match our products with demand, led by technology, and to continue working with the trade. So often suppliers underestimate the value a broker like us offers in generating trade sales and supporting agents, that they decide to go direct to the public.

But travel agents need to be trained, nurtured and looked after. They have so many

products to sell, so we try to make their lives easier especially as they are selling an ancillary product. So, we will continue to incentivise travel agents, offer them lots of training and be on hand for any questions they have.

“I am also only as good as the team around me, so I’ll continue to provide direction and motivation to my team. I like to mix things up a bit too; as an entrepreneurial company we like to innovate, so I will often change the strategy a little bit to up the pace and introduce a bit of spontaneity.

“Affordable Car Hire is a familyrun business, so we adopt a very hands-on approach. We also try to be very innovative and creative in what we do. We are very focused on technology and innovative products – like the SuperMaxi insurance that we’ll include for excess, which also covers for your tyres, undercarriage, bonnet, roof, windscreen, lost luggage, lost keys, so it’s like an added extra.”

As CEO, it is important for Angela to ensure everyone in the organisation is pulling in the same direction and understands her vision and works towards it.

She discusses what challenges and opportunities she has faced during her time at Affordable Car Hire and how this has affected her role.

felt the impact. However, within these uncertain times there are opportunities for us. Consumers who are worried about having enough spending money on their holiday will appreciate allinclusive car hire packages that represent good value for money.

So, we are tailoring our product to meet consumer demand and able to offer a bespoke service.”

“I manage a staff of 35 and negotiate at a senior level with clients, vendors and suppliers.

My aim is to develop a growing company and hopefully provide strong inspirational leadership and clear direction. I generally like to ensure the team has a clear, shared sense of purpose and a corporate “one team” culture across the organisation where all employees are valued, empowered and motivated.

Looking ahead, Angela excitedly tells us about her future aspirations regarding Affordable Car Hire as well as being complimentary of the industry and the people within, before demonstrating her ambition to make the company one of the leaders in the business. She is quick to praise her clients and says that her own personal ambitions are intrinsically linked to the business aspirations for the business.

“The spate of terrorist attacks makes for a nervous travelling public, and the falling value of the pound against the US dollar after Brexit meant consumer budgets were squeezed and sales to certain destinations

“I’m personally extremely humbled by the success of our business and am very grateful to all the support we have received from our clients. My aspiration is to continue to build a highly successful global business. I

love what I do, so half the battle is won as you need to have enjoyment from your working life.

I also enjoy meeting like-minded people, learning from them and hopefully continuing to expand the wealth and knowledge of life.

“My future career plans are intrinsically linked to growing the business with new product offerings to give the trade additional ancillary products to increase their revenue.

We continually seek new partnerships and affiliate partners where we believe there is a natural link to Affordable Car Hire and a benefit to our customers.

Recent partnerships have included working with WeSwap, the currency exchange card, and APH, Airport Parking and Hotels.”

Company: Affordable Car Hire Contact: Angela Day Contact Email: hayleyattwood@ affordablecarhire.com Address: Cambridge House, Cambridge Rd, Harlow, CM20 2EQ, UK Phone: 0345 900 0420 Website: www.affordablecarhire.com

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 25

,

GCE17048

Financial Planning Is for YOU. It Is about You... Now and in the Future After winning Best Wealth Management CEO 2017 – South East USA & Excellence Award for Financial Planning Services – USA, we spoke to CEO Denis Walsh to find out a bit more about the company and what makes him so successful.

Money Concept was founded by Denis’ father, Jack Walsh, in 1979. After a highly successful career leading two major insurance companies, Jack Walsh felt that the industry was at a cross road.

As a young college student, Denis was fortunate enough to begin to understand the courage, creativity, passion and leadership it took to take on the challenge to change. The new firm accepted this challenge to create a new approach in providing insurance and financial services. It was a new paradigm. Denis tells us how it feels to win this award.

“It is truly an honor to receive the Global CEO Excellence Award.

As a leader, we often can get caught up in the trend of the moment, the short-term task at hand, and always be moving toward the next goal. This award reflects the efforts of so many people over a long time. That makes this recognition special. I have been fortunate to have had

not only talented people around me but people who shared in my passion to grow and help others achieve more. This shared vision has allowed me to be at my best and has been at the heart of everything we do at Money Concepts. As we look ahead, our organization will maintain this approach and use the success of our past as the foundation for our future.”

Denis then discusses the need for change within the finance industry. He outlines the services and products that the firm offers before going on to explain how staff approach working with the firm’s advisors. Everything the team does and creates is with the client in mind, with every project available for the client to adapt as they choose.

“Recognizing the need for change, Money Concepts was formed to address the weaknesses in the distribution systems of the financial services industry. Our

26 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

entrepreneurial mindset created the perfect solution for financial professionals to have “turnkey” solutions without any proprietary influences, diverse business models and true independence in an open culture of sharing. In 1979, this was a major change in how things were done in our industry. That founding principle is still true today.

“Money Concepts offers a full array of products and services to support our independent advisors. We serve a very diverse network of professionals.

We are always looking at things through the eyes of our advisors, creating with them in mind and adapting with their input. Today’s consumer wants more than a financial product or plan. They want a relationship with a wealth mentor. We understand this need and apply it to our relationship with our advisors who we view as our client. This understanding and shared mindset is just one of many reasons 40% of our advisors have placed their trust in us for over 20 years.”

Standing out in the financial industry is important. Many firms are similar and to attract new and prospective clients, companies must offer something different.

Money Concept takes on clients who are always looking to grow regardless of their status. On both sides, the advisors and other team members are looking to learn and this is the prime difference between Money Concept and other financial competitors.

“When we are speaking with advisors who are looking to align with a new broker-dealer, we look at many factors that may differ from many firms. Of course, you look at the standard items to discuss, but it goes beyond the numbers. Often it is the intangibles that make the difference. Our success has been in attracting and retaining advisors who are looking to grow, regardless of where they are now. Advisors who are eager to learn more, sharpen their skills, and willing to share with others

g Financial Planning Is for YOU. It Is about You... Now and in the Future

in best practices. This makes Money Concepts a special place.”

Following on from this. Denis tells us how the industry is always changing and how the firm has to undertake a new project with a new approach.

Staff look at how the project will affect the customer first, making sure it benefits them before proceeding. The internal culture breeds flexibility as Denis points out below.

“Our industry is always changing.

As we take on new projects, we address the issues from the advisor’s viewpoint. By providing a structured environment that has the flexibility to quickly adapt to change, we are able to address the needs of our clients.

We apply proven systems that when applied, can generate great results. With that said, we also understand that the advisor needs to have the flexibility to pick and choose what system is best for their business. We believe that independence should not mean compromising the support provided.”

Denis and the team are excited for what the future holds for Money Concept. The company is always looking to grow and relishes any challenges that it will inevitably counter within the industry.

“We are excited about our future.

Our strategy is to continue the foundational principles that have been successful while embracing the challenges of tomorrow.

Our growth has traditionally been organic. We will continue to support this strategy while expanding into new markets.

Our objective is strategic growth.

This means to hold close to our founding principles and simply apply them in a sustainable way that delivers less stress and greater personal and professional satisfaction to the advisors we serve.”

Regarding his leadership style, Denis is keen to mention that he learned a lot from his father.

Similar to the company’s attitude and vision, Denis is always

looking to learn and interact with others, but in a way, that does not compromise his principles and ideas. It is not just the company and staff that Denis has to lead, he also wants to be a leader in the financial services industry. He states that the industry can sometimes impact on how he manages the company.

“There are many factors on leadership that I learned from my father and many others who were with him when our firm was founded. My objective was and is, that I can always learn from others without compromising my principles and ideas. I am passionate about learning. As a leader, you must continually be willing to grow yourself if you expect those around you to grow. This means creating and embracing a culture of sharing. Building a team around you that is empowered to have input, authority to execute, and responsibility to get results.

Setting the tone with a clear vision and allowing others to contribute, is a large part of our success. Our team embraces that challenge.

“The changes and challenges of our industry also impacts how you manage and lead. Over my career, I have had to balance the respect for traditions that helped build our organization with the infusion of new ideas that can best position our advisors and our firm for the future. This can be a greater challenge at times due to the fact of our long tenure of our advisors and management team. This is where I believe that foundation of respect and trust in people has benefited the most.

My role has always been that of the leader and decision maker.

However, it is the interaction and relationship building actions between big decisions that have been the critical points of our success. When that foundation is solid, we are able to work through the hard discussions and decisions with our advisors and management team.”

Looking ahead, Money Concepts will continue to expand in any way possible. Focusing on the

firm’s clients and advisors is something Denis believes is key to the future of the company.

“As we look toward the future, our objective is to continue our Mindset to Grow. With a continuous focus on the success of our advisors, brings an ever-changing opportunity.

Our industry continues to challenge; thus, forcing change.

Many smaller firms will not be able to meet those challenges.

Keeping with our strategic growth philosophy, we plan to explore expansion with select groups in select markets. Unlike the typical trend of mergers and acquisitions, we will not compromise our foundation for just a number. The bottom line for us is growth that moves everyone forward, starting with our advisors.

“My personal career goals at this point truly lies with impacting others. My personal

and professional success has provided me with the opportunity to help others achieve their goals and make a difference. A few years ago, we established Money Concepts Charities.

This project has allowed us to contribute a percentage of the firm’s profits to many charities.

More importantly, it opened up the opportunity for our advisors to get more involved in their local communities and impact many organizations that do not receive the national spotlight but are doing tremendous work. The result has been overwhelming.”

Company: Money Concepts Contact: Denis Walsh Contact Email: Denis@moneyconcepts.com Address: 11440 North Jog Road, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418, USA Phone: 001 561 472-2001 Website: www.moneyconcepts.com

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 27

,

GCE17048

Blowing the Competition Away APG-Neuros, is a Canadian company wholly owned by Aviation and Power Group (APG), headquartered in greater Montreal, Québec . The company has its foundation in aeronautic technologies with the mandate for sales, distribution, manufacturing, aftermarket support and continued development of high efficiency Turbo-machinery, turbo blowers and complete aeration systems for the municipal and industrial markets in North and South America, Europe, & Middle East. We spoke to Omar Hammoud to discuss winning the Best Turbo Blower Manufacturer CEO - North America award.

Omar started APG in 2006 with a vision to be the world leader in the development and commercialization of high efficiency turbomachinery. The company’s product development started with its high efficiency high speed turbo blower system.

APG’s headquarters is located in Blainville, Quebec, Canada (28 km north of Montreal) and its production, warehouse and testing facility is located in Plattsburgh, New York, USA. Omar talks us through the origins of the firm, detailing how it has grown and what services it provides to a variety of clients today.

“APG began in 2006 with our first customer in St Pie, Quebec, Canada and are now today the leaders in the North American high speed turbo blower market with more than 400 customers and over 1100 units delivered.

The great majority of our customers are municipalities; from small towns to large cities.

Our customers vary from the wastewater facility owner, operator and maintenance manager to large industrial

companies, consortiums of consulting engineering firms and general contractors. We strive to support all of our customers from the simple beginnings, of project feasibility, to providing the owner a turnkey solution.

We provide our customers with our technical knowledge and experience in the waste water industry throughout the process of the design of aeration system and assist them in best selecting their blower systems. We are recognized as custom technical solution providers; we build all of our blowers and master control panel to meet the specific needs of each of our customers. We also lead our industry with our knowledge and leadership to develop new standards that raises the quality of the products in general.”

Discussing how it feels to win this award, Omar is very humbled, noting how grateful he feels to have his hard work recognized.

Providing innovative products to customers, along with his and his staff’s dedication and perseverance to providing only the best to clients are the main reasons that Omar attributes to his success.

28 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

“Honestly, I feel humbled with this award and grateful for the strength and visionary team at AI Global Media and CEO Monthly that work hard to recognize CEOs from across the corporate landscape. I attribute the success to assisting my customers with new innovative products and my dedication and perseverance along with my staff, family and partners in striving to bring the blower technology to the 21st century. Winning this award tells me that I have done the right thing and made good decisions. It allows me to use my achievements as a stepping

stone to take on more serious challenges and develop more innovative blower technologies further in the future.”

Drawing on his past experience and outlining his previous roles, Omar tells us how he came to achieve his position as CEO of APG. Having been fortunate enough to hold several leadership roles in the past, Omar explains how is family supported him when he made the decision to start his new company. Using his previous experience to build a good team around him, Omar has grown

g Blowing the Competition Away

APG to be the force it is today.

“In the past, I was fortunate to be a part of several leaders in aerospace and defense industry such as General Electric, United Technologies and French company SAFRAN for over 25 years where for seven years held executive positions. In 2005, with the support of my family, I took my savings, accumulated knowledge and experience and began the journey down the unbeaten path with the creation of the Aviation Power Group (APG). Introduced to the blower technology at the Water Environmental Federation trade show WEFTEC in 2006.

I was able to benefit from my aerospace and defense industry knowledge and experience to successfully introduce the high speed turbo blower to the North American Market. I used my experience in executive roles, to grow the team around me. I began APG in the basement on my home and grew it to a team of 80 people located throughout North American, Western Europe and the Middle East.”

When undertaking a new project, it is important to get to know the client and build relationships.

Omar comments on his approach to new clients, listing how he ensures right from the start that the outcome meets the needs of everyone involved. He emphasises how the company and its staff are always ready to respond to any challenge or opportunities.

“Responsiveness. I strive to instill in my team to the importance of responding to the needs and wants of our existing customers and to our potential new customers. We take much pride in the ability to respond to any and all inquiries big or small, simple or complex. To ensure we do get it right the first time, we have built a multi-skilled team with background close to our customer’s applications. We organized our sales force to work together as an integrated team to analyze and respond to the customers’ requirements; taking into consideration the application specifics and our experience with similar installations in the

past. We grew our technical competency over the last ten years to provide our customers turn-key aeration solutions that meet the evolving customers’ requirement. This high technical competency differentiated us and brought us much success in our goal to maintain our leadership in the market.”

Regarding the state of the engineering and industry currently, Omar talks to us about the particular issues and challenges facing the firm.

Becoming more energy efficient, companies are determined to make their mark. However, Omar believes that, as a market leader, APG will continue to introduce new technologies, which will help the firm in its mission to become energy self-sufficient.

“Fundamentally, we have seen the industry take a large step forward in goal to be more energy efficient with the acceptance of the high speed turbo blower technology. We have seen the number of industry players growing all striving to make their marks in the industry.

As market leader, it is our role to continue to strive away from the beaten path and continue to introduce new technologies into the industry, in its ultimate goal to become energy self-sufficient.”

Being a successful CEO is all about ensuring that all staff work together to achieve the same missions and reach the same goals. Leading by example, staff are able to look up to Omar and follow his lead. He points out that although his staff learn from him and follow his lead, he also learns from them, making a point of listening and meeting all of his employees.

“Importantly, I strive to lead by example. Throughout the years, I have had to wear many hats to bring our company to where it is today. In such, I am today able to mentor my team in their day to day challenges with use of my knowledge and experience obtained not only in past roles but those at APG. Through “can do” spirit, hard work, there is no obstacle we cannot conquer as a team. As much as my team

has to learn from me, I learn as much from my team’s knowledge and experience from their past careers. I am fortunate to have good people as part of my team.

I make it a point to meet and listen to all of my team leaders and members to ensure that we all row in the same direction to cross the finish line as leaders.”

Regarding the future of the firm, Omar is excited about a new project that APG has embarked on, with more announcements to come. Furethermore, Omar is looking forward to CEO’s continuing to be recognised for the hard work they put in to their companies, particularly with regard to technology becoming more green and self-sufficient.

“Ultimately, we have already embarked on a significant new product development with

even greater benefits to our customers. We hope to make announcements of our new products sometime during the first half of 2018. I enjoy what I am doing now and hope to continue growing my company and teams. I will also be looking at new acquisitions in the near future. I look forward to see other CEO’s recognized by your team to strive to be influential in keeping the world moving to adopt green technologies and to support Innovation and innovators.”

Company: AGPN Inc Contact Email: OHammoud@apg-neuros.com Address: 1270 Michèle-Bohec, Blainville, Québec, J7C 5S4. Canada Phone: 001 450-939-0799 Website: www.apg-neuros.com

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 29

,

GCE17037

For the Love of Trading Mercury Forex AG (Mercury) are in the business of currency trading, which means different things to different people. The firm was pleased to receive two awards: Asset Management CEO of the Year – Switzerland and the Best in FX Trade Solutions – Switzerland awards. To celebrate, we invited CEO, John F.C. Birkins to discuss his firm’s success and his role as a senior leader.

Mercury Forex AG (Mercury) are in the business of currency trading - whether it’s the central banker, corporate treasurer, international investor, hedge fund manager, personal trader or holidaymaker - and all who are affected by movement in exchange rates.

CEO, John F.C. Birkins explains how it feels to win these two prestigious awards and the factors that make the firm successful.

“Firstly, let me say that any award nomination is always appreciated and to be the actual recipient is truly an honour, so thank you.

Over the past 20 years, Mercury Forex (Mercury) has grown to become a very well respected asset manager with a broad range of investors, significant assets under management, representatives in Europe and the United States, as well as a strong support team based primarily in Switzerland.

“Mercury’s success is attributable to many factors, but it’s our trading approach and long-held core values that have enabled us to produce consistent returns for our clients from day one. As to the impact of these awards on our future business, that remains to be seen, but I will be sure to keep you posted!”

John then tell us about your firm, the work they do and the nature of their client base.

“As a product, Foreign Exchange (FX), is not an asset like equities or bonds, or a money market instrument such as a deposit or loan but has characteristics of both. It is therefore critical to the effective functioning of global commerce.

“Being a relative price of one currency against another and used by people for their transactional needs, hedging needs and speculative aspirations - the FX market creates opportunities for those who embrace the breadth of the market and search diligently for opportunities.

“Mercury was originally set-up in London back in 1994 but relocated to Switzerland, in Pfäffikon close to the Lake of Zurich, in 2005. It was a move designed to escape the sometimes-unproductive market ‘noise’ in the UK’s capital.

The relative quiet of the Swiss mountains gave both me and the business huge impetus. It helped us avoid those unwanted distractions and frequent ‘groupthink’, thus allowing a much greater clarity of thought.

“In terms of clients, we certainly don’t try to be ‘all things to all

30 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

people’, since our product offering and trading approach will not suit everyone. For example, we have never engaged with retail investors. Rather, our target clients are significant institutional investors, effectively the principal holder of the funds as opposed to other asset managers and ultra high-net-worth individuals (HNWI).”

John then talks through his previous roles, how he became a CEO and how today, he draws on his past career experiences. “l started my career in 1977 as a trainee with the Scandinavian Bank in London, so the world of FX has fascinated me ever since.

I had some great mentors in my early career, that enabled me to progress through increasingly responsible trading positions at Berliner Bank AG and UBS London, culminating in the Chief Dealer role at Credit Suisse London.

“During this time, I observed that traders tended to fall into two categories; the followers and the contrarians. The followers, being seen by some as the largest group as people, generally like to be part of the crowd. They may lack the confidence or have a fear of missing out traits - that can result in people engaging in trades that they may not fully understand - but

they don’t want to be left behind.

By contrast, the contrarian trader, a much rarer breed, is confident in their understanding of market movements and tends to know when the markets are at extremes in terms of pricing as well as positioning.

“The primary reason for setting up Mercury in 1993 was to step away from the corporate world and to focus purely on trading, as well as investing my own money alongside a small core group of clients, many of whom are still with us today. My desire was to create an environment and culture that I wanted to work in and that drew heavily on my past experiences, both positive and negative. Importantly, I wanted the independence to indulge my love of trading and developing successful as well as often contrarian trading strategies.”

g

John then provides some valuable insight into Mercury’s approach when undertaking a new client or project – explaining to us how the firm ensures that the needs of those they serve are always met.

“We are fortunate - in that oftenpotential clients - approach us via recommendations from their respected contemporaries. This saves us both the time and money that others may spend advertising or chasing clients, so this means that we are already halfway towards gaining their trust. Mercury also works closely with such prospects, to ensure they understand how we work, the need for focus and calm reflection, as well as the open window for adding value to the thought process.

“In the same way that investors assess whether an asset manager is suitable for their needs, we strive to ensure that they are suitable for Mercury. Therefore, we view our investors as partners, providing them with access to opportunities unique in the world of investment, whilst they in turn provide us with capital and support.”

John then reveals the ongoing strategy of Mercury, including the techniques used to ensure that this is achieved.

“At the risk of stating the obvious, our strategy is simply to provide the right product to the right client at the right price, with an acceptable level of return. From a trading point of view, we apply a strict risk management approach, for example, we typically would not risk more than 0.3% on any one trading idea. We also focus in our area of expertise, the G7 currencies and their crosses, which gives us plenty of opportunity within those 28 currency pairs to produce alpha.

“Our portfolio managers have the tools to understand the worst-case scenarios - in all possible trading situations - but they are encouraged to use their own initiative alongside the programmes and analytics developed by Mercury.

Meanwhile, I personally oversee the central risk management book,

help them manage their positions and for example, alleviate their concerns on a gap move in the market.

“Instinctively Mercury doesn’t chase returns or the market, rather we can allow the trade to come to us. We wait, and if a given level is not reached, the trade is not initiated. Mercury’s mantra is ‘Plan the Trade, Trade the Plan’.

“Other than risk management, another of my key roles is that of mentor providing the right level of coaching, support and development to all employees across the firm. By taking this approach, this ensures that we maximise their potential and avoid the ‘square pegs in round holes’ scenario.”

John then imparts his thoughts on the state of the industry currently and provides a flavour of his leadership style as a CEO. “Regulation is the factor that immediately springs to mind. Of course, it is a prerequisite for the financial services industry, but is reaching critical levels from a resource perspective. Whilst protecting investors and especially the ‘little man’, it is clearly vital that the resulting cost impact is forcing some smaller firms to exit the business. It also creates a barrier to entry, thus concentrating assets in those larger firms, reducing investor choice and resulting in a less competitive market. This creates a barrier to entry, that is causing concentration of assets in larger asset managers, reducing choice for investors. Additionally, a market is always healthier for a wider and broader group of participants, engaging within it.

“As CEO, I aim to consistently be a role-model to reflect Mercury’s core values; communication, focus, patience, delegation and the environment. The more experienced I become, the more I value listening. We have an investment committee at Mercury, consisting of long-term stakeholders with whom I regularly communicate, so this hopefully provides a valued sounding board for new ideas in a forum

For the Love of Trading

that encourages both a calm and reasoned debate. Likewise, I adopt a similar approach with my team of experienced portfolio managers. At Mercury, we also try to maintain a balanced lifestyle approach since tension, nervousness and uncertainty do little to deliver peak performance in any business.

“Also, as a manager, I create a safety net for my portfolio managers that work within Mercury by ensuring they know the worst-case scenarios in all possible situations from trading.

As I personally manage the central risk management book, I help them manage their positions and take away the concern they could have on a gap move in the market for instance. Additionally, for the members of the team that have come up as juniors, I make it clear to them that should they fail, this is because of my shortcomings in teaching and mentoring them. By doing this, I act to underwrite their development, recognising that a role for them could be in a support function as opposed to front line trading.”

John then reveals the challenges and opportunities he has faced during his time as the CEO of Mercury.

“It is impossible to manage a financial services business currently, without a robust operational infrastructure.

Mercury’s state-of-the-art technology allows our portfolio managers to access a fully functioning remote office, staffed by a strong middle and back office as well as both effective legal and compliance support. I believe that this solid infrastructure is our firm’s bedrock.

“We have also built strong and lasting relationships with Mercury’s auditors, lawyers and regulators.

Effective engagement with the latter is especially important, not simply to remain compliant, but also to be part of the discussions to positively influence future regulatory change.

In closing, John is eager to reveal the firm’s future aspirations and his own thoughts about his career

as a senior leader.

“Going forward, Mercury want to keep carrying on with what we’re doing. We want the business to continue to grow its AUM, whilst realising consistently above average returns for clients. Where it makes sense, I have always traded in a contrarian manner and will continue to do so. Similarly, I will continue to create, refine and enhance our models and methodologies to inform our trading strategies. Continuous improvement is critical, so I am constantly learning from the market, our staff, investors and stakeholders.

“Mercury is not my job, is not my career, it’s my life, family excluded of course. I thrive with the challenge of being at the very heart of my own business and enjoy the regular interactions with my team and with many of my high net worth (HNWI) clients whom I consider both friends and mentors - and with the various charitable causes we support.

Personally, I have no plans whatsoever to retire!

“I am very proud of what we have created at Mercury over the past 20 years or so. It is a continuing and huge success story that has produced average gross annualised returns of 16.6% for our clients – a factor that makes investing in Mercury extremely attractive as part of a balanced investment portfolio. I have developed a working environment that suits me and have extended it to the rest of my team, to allow them to operate at their highest potential. I revel in the fact that Mercury stands out from the herd and does not follow convention.

Indeed, Mercury longevity, performance and deep investor relationships are testament to that.”

Name: John Birkins Email: enquires@mercuryforex.com Web Address: mercuryforex.swiss Address: Churerstrasse 135, CH8808 Pfäffikon, Switzerland

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 31

,

GCE17037

A Continuing Success Story The business of currency trading means different things to different people; whether it’s the central banker, corporate treasurer, international investor, hedge fund manager, personal trader or holidaymaker. Each can be affected by movement in exchange rates. The firm was pleased to receive two awards: Asset Management CEO of the Year – Switzerland and the Best in FX Trade Solutions – Switzerland awards. CEO, John F.C. Birkins of Mercury Forex AG explains more in this guest article.

As a product, Foreign Exchange, is not an asset like equities or bonds, or a money market instrument such as a deposit or loan, but has characteristics of both and is critical to the effective functioning of global commerce. By being a relative price of one currency against another, used by people for their transactional needs, hedging needs and speculative aspirations, the foreign exchange market creates opportunities for those who embrace the breadth of the market and search diligently for opportunities. I created Mercury Forex AG to do exactly that.

Since the dawn of my trading career, in 1977 as a trainee at the Scandinavian Bank London, the world of foreign exchange has fascinated me and continued to do so, through increasingly responsible roles at Berliner Bank AG, UBS London and Credit Suisse London.

In 1993 - I felt a strong desire to step outside of the corporate world of management and politics - and to focus purely on trading initially investing my own money alongside a small core group of

clients. Over time, Mercury Forex has grown to become a very well respected asset manager in the industry, with a much broader range of investors and significant assets under management. The business has grown into a global enterprise, with representatives in Europe and the United States and a support team primarily based in Switzerland.

After all, what Mercury Forex has consistently provided over its 23 years of trading is a valuable commodity: Alpha. Whilst many alternative asset managers have succeeded in providing expensive exposure to benchmarked returns, the creation of excess return, or alpha, requires a different mindset.

Mercury Forex has delivered an average gross annualised return of 16.6% over its trading life, with low volatility and controlled drawdowns. Importantly, the correlation to the performance of equities and bonds - over the longterm - is essentially zero. That means that Mercury Forex creates excess returns, irrespective of whether stocks or bonds are themselves rising or falling. This makes investing in Mercury Forex extremely attractive as part of a balanced investment portfolio.

32 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

I am particularly proud of the consistency of returns, which are testament to the way in which Mercury Forex operates.

I am often asked how I run a successful business, juggling management, a broad group of stakeholders, being strategic with my decisions for the development of the business whilst creating consistent alpha over a long period of time. The answer is that Mercury Forex remains true to the core values that we founded this business upon - confidence, environment, patience, delegation, communication and focus.

In terms of focus, we don’t try to be ‘all things to all people’.

Mercury Forex applies a very strict risk management approach, typically not risking more than 0.3% on any one trading idea and trading only the G7 currencies.

However, this still gives us plenty of opportunity within those 28 currency pairs to produce alpha.

I also realised from my early trading experiences - that traders tend to fall into two camps - the followers and the contrarians. The followers make up a far larger number of the trading population; for most part people generally

like to be part of the crowd. The ‘fear of missing out’, causes people to engage in trades that they may not fully understand, but don’t want to be left behind.

Mainly, this is due to a lack of confidence in one’s own ability.

By contrast, the contrarian trader, a much rarer breed, needs to be confident in their understanding of why markets are moving in a certain way and to know when the markets are at extremes in terms of pricing as well as positioning.

Where it makes sense, I have always traded in a contrarian manner and have spent a lifetime creating models and methods to help me to constantly improve, refine and upgrade the trading strategies that we employ as a firm. The great joy of being involved in Forex - is the need to constantly learn the lessons the market gives you, take them on board - and then move on.

Creativity, resilience and a desire to continue to learn and improve are critical traits.

A primary reason for setting up Mercury Forex, was the ability to create an environment that I wanted to work in. Initially, this was about stepping outside of a corporate environment, where

g

group think and ‘white noise’ on trading floors can foster herd mentality amongst traders as opposed to reliance on individual analysis. The ability to focus solely on the markets and step away from the requirements of corporate management and politics, was a relief. I realised that whilst I was good in those bank roles, my real skill was in developing and refining contrarian trading strategies.

The business was initially setup in London, but in 2005 I decided to move to Switzerland, basing the business in Pfäffikon SZ, close to the Lake of Zurich. This move bought a new impetus to the business, with the change of environment. I found moving away from the noise of London, to the relative quiet of the Swiss mountains, was an incredibly rewarding experience for me from both a personal and business point of view. I have realised that managing the noise, both from a business and an investment perspective, is crucial.

Reducing the amount of unhelpful commentary, for instance, reduces the risk of group think amongst people. From a management point of view, avoiding unwarranted distractions, and especially those that create them, affords a greater clarity of thought. The move to Switzerland, creating Mercury Forex AG and accepting Swiss Financial regulation, all helped the firm to focus on our core strategy – the preservation of capital and exceptional risk management.

However, it’s always important to listen and for that reason I have created an investment committee, made up of long-term stake holders in Mercury Forex.

The regular communications with this group are vital, providing a necessary sounding board for ideas, as well as bringing new perspectives and ideas in a controlled forum that allows calm and a reasoned discussion.

The environment for my team of portfolio managers is very much in line with this overall approach.

I encourage portfolio managers to work on their own, using the programmes and analysis created

by Mercury Forex, alongside their own analysis. This acts to

A Continuing Success Story

reduce group think, but constant communication with me creates that sounding board for them that my investment committee provides for me. The business model at Mercury Forex, allows them to manage their own lifestyles, in the same way that I manage mine.

Tension, nervousness and uncertainty, are all poor traits for traders. In fact, as a firm we rarely perform at our best in any endeavour when we feel like that. Instead, it is my belief that doing everything possible, both for myself and the team, to feel relaxed, confident, focused and well informed, are critical for the peak performance of all the staff here.

I have been fortunate, that I have garnered an increasing number of investor clients, some of which are the original investors from 1995!

Over time, I have a strong belief that the mark of a good business is providing the correct product to the right client, at the right price. The quality of the product at Mercury Forex is shown in black and white; the track record does not lie. The ability to not only retain investor clients over such a long period, but to gain so many new ones, shows that the pricing and especially the performance must be attractive!

What I have realised, is that Mercury Forex does not work for every possible investor. We have never engaged with retail investors, for instance. We deal only with significant institutional investors, typically with the principal holder of the funds, as opposed to other asset managers.

It is important that an investor understands the way we work, that is need for focus and calm reflection, whilst at times being able to add value to the thought process. In the same way that investors assess whether an asset manager is suitable for their needs, Mercury Forex looks carefully at whether an investor is suitable. For that reason, I view our investors as partners - we provide them access to an opportunity that is unique in the world of investment - they provide us capital and support.

It is impossible to manage financial services business in the modern day, without significant infrastructure and support processes. We use state-of-the-art technology, to allow the concept of the ‘remote office’ for portfolio managers to function. I have built a strong team of middle and back office staff, as well as legal and compliance support. We have strong relationships with auditors, lawyers and especially, regulators.

I believe that strong engagement with regulators is important, not simply to remain compliant, but also to be part of the discussions around changes in regulation going forward.

Being part of the dialogue is an ongoing way to manage regulatory risk. Generally, I spend a significant amount of time ensuring this element of our structure is sound. Any asset management business is as strong as its foundations, so the firm’s infrastructure is our bedrock.

The advantage of having created and run a successful business for so many years, is it affords us the opportunity of patience.

Typically, bad decisions are made when under stress to make a call, or have time or performance pressure imposed by outside influences.

Longevity and superior performance allows Mercury Forex to avoid this, by employing our trading style of focus and analysis, underpinned by strong discipline. This means we do not need to chase returns; rather we can allow the trade to come to us.

Over eager or pressurised traders can have the right view, but end up rushing to enter a trade at the wrong level and are squeezed

out, often close to market turns.

Mercury Forex waits, and if a given level is not reached, the trade is not initiated. We never chase the market. A key motto of the firm is: ‘Plan the Trade, Trade the Plan’.

I am very proud of what I have created at Mercury Forex, indeed it is a continuing and huge success story and has been for over 20 years, adding significant value to clients in a unique way.

We don’t advertise the firm’s business model or chase clients, but our investors usually come to us having been recommended by their trusted contemporaries, which is the way l like it.

I have developed a working environment that suits me and have extended it to the rest of my team - to allow them to operate at their highest potential in their areas of expertise by - creating a culture of confidence, patience, discipline and success. I revel in the fact that Mercury Forex is ‘different’ from the herd and does not follow convention. Certainly, the firm’s longevity, performance and deep relationships with our investors are testament to that.

As with any firm, one of its most valuable resources is its employee’s, so I am very proud to have both the support and loyalty of my team.

Name: John Birkins Email: enquires@mercuryforex.com Web Address: mercuryforex.swiss Address: Churerstrasse 135, CH8808 Pfäffikon, Switzerland

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 33

,

GCE17043

Sustainable Living Spaces in the UAE At Bloom, they invest in and develop communities as well as mixed-use developments integrating aesthetics, quality living and value added offerings. They recently won the ‘Real Estate Development CEO of the Year – UAE’ accolade, after which we took the opportunity to interview a spokesperson to learn more about the region and the firm’s wide-ranging and impressive scope of work.

The seat of the federal government and the country’s capital, Abu Dhabi is the largest, in area and population, of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE itself lies on the southern coast of the Arabian Gulf and has a resident population of over two million people. Endowed with rich natural resources, the emirate of Abu Dhabi has about 8% of the world’s known oil reserves and hosts the fifth largest natural gas reserves.

A growing diversification in the country’s economy has been evident in recent years, with Abu Dhabi becoming a regional centre for trade and business, as well as a major new touristic destination hosting world-class sports and cultural events.

Bloom Holding is a group of companies, dedicated to developing sustainable and integrated urban communities, that offer an enriching lifestyle and quality of life. The group is driven by its vision to surpass the expectations of buyers and investors through partnerships, with best in class providers in education, hospitality, health care

and property services. Bloom Holding has an established and growing portfolio of projects within the UAE, the MENA region, Europe and the United States.

The values of the firm can be summarised as follows: • Integrity: They are committed to implementing ethicallysound business practices, to deliver consistent value for their stakeholders.

• Accountability: They are committed to promoting a culture of accountability and transparency at individual and organisational levels, to achieve optimal performance throughout the organisation.

• Teamwork: They foster an enabling work environment to their employees, through encouraging and rewarding teamwork towards fulfilling shared goals.

• Ambition: They value and encourage ambition and forward thinking, which translates into positive outcomes and a healthy environment of growth.

A spokesperson reveals something of the firm’s vision, commitment to sustainable development, as the interview commences.

34 CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017

“As a customer-focused organisation - people are at the centre of our vision to design and develop integrated communities that combine all components of luxury, leisure, comfort and modern lifestyle and meet the varied tastes and expectations of people - in line with the best international standards.

“Through innovation, quality, diversity, relevance and extraordinary service, we are committed to creating and managing sustainable developments and masterplanned communities that enrich the lives of customers and cater to the well-being and professional fulfilment of our employees.

Using best-in-class standards throughout our processes, we are dedicated to continuously meeting and exceeding expectations and serving the wider needs of the community.

“The firm’s vision is to become one of the most trusted partners and the preferred provider of sustainable living spaces in the region and beyond, driving value to our customers and shareholders alike. Employees are our biggest asset; indeed, they are active partners in the decision-making process and

in our success stories. As such, we are dedicated to ensure their employment, growth, well-being and satisfaction.”

Sameh Muhtadi is the current CEO of Bloom Holding, the property and lifestyle development arm of the firm.

As a true real estate investment veteran, Muhtadi brings to this role more than 30 years of experience across real estate development, engineering and construction management, strategic planning and financial investing. In earlier roles, Muhtadi has served as Managing Director of The Morgan Stanley - Orascom Infrastructure Fund, a well as CEO of Emaar Properties-Misr and Executive Vice President of Contrack-Orascom.

An FSA-certified financial advisor, Muhtadi’s expertise spans a wide range of real estate investment disciplines including PPP investments across the Middle East and Africa. Muhtadi holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Enfield College, UK and a Master’s in Construction Management from the George Washington University, USA. At Bloom, they invest in and develop integrated communities,

g Sustainable Living Spaces in the UAE

as well as mixed-use developments, the spokesperson reveals. He tells us more about the firm’s approach to their projects, then goes on to provide some interesting and concrete examples of this.

“Each project is carefully crafted to add clear value to its surroundings and target audience.

Our developments range from residential areas and community resorts, in well-connected transit areas to commercial offices and retail spaces. We place great importance on the end user’s needs, to ensure a highly rewarding lifestyle in Bloom communities.

“As a celebration of Dubai’s limitless energy and ambition, Bloom Towers is our new vision of connected living for Dubai’s young and young at heart. Rising high above verdant vistas, with the iconic skyline of Dubai on the horizon beyond, Bloom Towers puts you within minutes away from the city’s finest leisure, dining and entertainment destinations.

Located on Al Khail Road, one of Dubai’s most popular and exciting young communities, Jumeirah Village Circle offers residents the true sense of community living.

Bloom Towers is a stunning urban development, with three residential towers that merge a stylish contemporary timeless elegant design, with exceptional comfort and convenience.”

“Another example of our work is Bloom Heights, a modern mix-use urban development, that encompasses residential and retail elements. The project offers a total of 686 residential spacious units ranging from studios, one, two and three bedroom apartments. Bloom Heights will feature modern and contemporary architecture, with an intelligent design that maximises the value of living space. In addition to its efficiently designed apartments with high quality finishes, the project will offer a host of amenities including two swimming pools, a running track, a gym, a multipurpose hall and convenience retail.”

The spokesperson then furnishes us with the details of their

Emirates International Property Services (EIPS).

“In addition, Bloom’s subsidiary Emirates International Property Services (EIPS), specialises in establishing comprehensive A to Z services for customers, through leasing, property and facility management. Backed by the expertise of well-trained and experienced professionals, our services are designed to give the customer a total peace of mind.

“We take time to understand our customers’ individual requirements, by offering fully personalised service for both tenants and landlords.

EIPS manages a high-quality portfolio of properties, offering a comprehensive and cost-effective package of management services to around 18 residential and commercial towers. These include a retail centre and residential compounds in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai.

“Also, through Emirates International Property Services, Bloom offers a full range of leasing, property management and integrated facility management services.

Since its foundation in 2008, EIPS has been endorsing a proactive approach to deliver end-to-end solutions through competitive and customised services to various entities such as in the educational, residential, commercial and retail sectors across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al Ain.” The scope of the firm’s engagement includes best-inclass maintenance, cleaning, landscaping, as well as both security guarding and call centre services. As part of this portfolio, Bloom offer facilities management consultancy and transition management to operational service delivery, the spokesperson tells us. They then detail the role of technology in the firm and exactly what the Bloom Education aspect of their business does.

“EIPS utilises state of the art computer maintenance management software (CMMS), to execute preventive and

reactive job plans through its centralised call centre. Advanced technology systems, policies, procedures and sustained training further allow our 1000+ professional team to ensure the consistent delivery of high-quality services to esteemed clients, through a partnership approach.

Also, worth noting, is that Bloom has a fast-growing hospitality portfolio, ranging from 4 to 5 star hotels and serviced hotel apartments, the spokesperson reveals. They also tell us more about the work of Bloom Retail, as this revealing interview concludes.

“Bloom Education has teamed up with international experts in education, to establish and operate world-class schools and colleges. Bloom Education offers students the opportunity to achieve their maximum potential in a positive, enjoyable, stimulating and safe environment that is conducive to their intellectual, physical, emotional and social development. Bloom Education is equally committed to instilling children with an appreciation of the local cultural heritage and values, as well as the values of other cultures.

“Among our hospitality offerings that boast over 1,000 guest rooms and executive apartments in Abu Dhabi are Abu Dhabi Marina, located in the Marina Al Bateen area, Bloom Central located on Airport Road, Park View on Saadiyat Island and a project on Reem Island. Bloom is also partnering with world famous operators in the hospitality industry, to offer outstanding investment opportunities.

“This side of the business has partnered with the renowned Brighton College in the UK, which achieved the highest A-Level results of any co-ed schools in England in 2008, 2009 and 2010, to bring this prestigious school to the UAE. Established under this partnership, Brighton College Abu Dhabi and Brighton College Al Ain have already set a benchmark in quality education in the UAE.” Bloom Business Centre aims to create a variety of office solutions, to suit various types of businesses and companies, the spokesperson reveals.

“With expansive offices and stylish furniture that make the environment unique, the spaces are designed to suit different levels of business needs. The flagship Bloom Business Centre at Al Maryah Island is in Tower 1 ‘Sila Tower’ of the internationally acclaimed Sowwah Square Development, at the heart of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital.

The business centre is near the Rosewood Hotel, the Four Seasons & Rotana Beach Hotel, the new Abu Dhabi Global Market, Cleveland Clinic and the Galleria Shopping Mall with restaurants, cafés, shops and banks. The centre is 20 minutes by car to the Abu Dhabi International Airport.”

“Bloom Retail is a premium provider of retail experiences, so we are conceptualising and developing a portfolio of retail opportunities ranging from community retail, shopping centres and support retail. Bloom Retail will also continue to explore opportunities for developing retail assets, across the region and in other high-growth markets.

“We are also involved in the shaping of healthy communities.

Bloom has positioned itself as a holistic developer, that not only builds quality mixeduse developments, but is as committed to shaping healthy community living supported by the right education and a healthcare offering. In the same manner that Bloom has introduced Brighton College to the emirate of Abu Dhabi four years ago, Bloom Healthcare aims to add several emergency care clinics and polyclinics, as well as mother and child hospitals with a focus on sub-specialties, laboratories and rehab centres.”

Email: info@bloom.co.ae Web Address: www.bloomholding.com Address: Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed St. Rd 18th 7th floor, Abu Dhabi - UAE Telephone: +971 2 6969500

CEO MONTHLY / AUGUST 2017 35

ce

monthly

Subscribe to CEO MONTHLY Subscribe here www.ceo-monthly.com/subscribe